The Pokémon Masters
by Lightningks07
Summary: Three Pokémon trainers become unlikely teachers as they meet Ash Ketchum and help him on his journey of becoming a Pokémon Master! With action, a heavy yet child-friendly story, and plenty of comedy, this series is a passion project that I've grown really attached to, and I hope you'll enjoy it too. This story contains characters and stories from all regions.
1. The intro

This story begins in the beautiful Alola Region, just above Melemele Island. This story will soon encompass stories of all the regions, but for now, we are in Alola.

A young man was waking up from a deep slumber. He hadn't been sleeping for long, but he was still fairly groggy. He slowly opened his eyes to the beautiful skies that greeted him. The rich scenery, the strong, yet gentle winds blowing on the top of his head, the friendly and lively Pokemon flying around! It was a sight to behold!

Unimpressed with the scenery, the young man slowly opened his mouth wide for a much needed yawn, which was poorly timed as a Wingull proceeded to fly into his mouth.

"PLLhfftrhftbbtt! Ptoo!"

The boy wrestled to spit out his new catch. The Wingull landed into his hands. It's wing was slightly bent and it was dazed. The boy then proceeded to do what any caring Pokemon Trainer would do when holding an injured Pokemon.

Strangle it out of anger.

"WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT?! WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING, YOU STUPID BIRD!!! YOU STUPID, BRAINLESS, DUMBAS-"

The boy stopped wrestling with the bird as he realized something. Something that should've occurred to him immediately when a Flying Pokemon that spends most of its time high above the ground flew into him. He looked down and saw nothing but clear blue sky. He looked up and saw Melemele Island getting closer at blinding speeds. All had become clear to him. The strange occurrence currently happening around him...

Why was he speaking to a Pokemon? Pokemon are idiots! Most of them can't understand a word humans say without being shoved inside tiny balls!

Oh, and also that he was dozens of stories high in the air careening towards his death.

That might have been important.

"I'M GONNA DIIIIEEEEEEE!!!"

He was probably going to die.

We would stay to see what his fate would hold, but he's a jerk so let's leave him hanging in the air for 4 more chapters as we move on to someone else.

"Wait, WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!?"

PROLOGUE #1:

POKEMON TRAINER HILBERT (BLACK WHITE)


	2. Serena comes to Alola!

Serena could hardly hold her excitement. She was finally going to see Ash again! After making an agreement with her manager, she could now take a vacation to wherever she pleased. And where better to vacate than in Hawai-erm, Alola!

The young girl was in a daze, reminiscing on the last time she saw her crush. She made a promise back then and intended to keep it. She was now more of a woman with her new status as a coordinator of contests and couldn't wait to show Ash her new skills!

Oh, the pain of the slow-moving ferry taking them from the Hoenn region. The wait was almost unbearable. Serena looked out onto the horizon, waiting for the speck of land to turn into the beautiful island that Ash was on. What was it called again? Oh, yes! Alola! She was so caught up with her memories of Ash she had forgotten the name of the region momentarily.

She looked out on the viewing deck. She decided to stand up on the railing. Yes, it was dangerous, but Ash had always inspired her to live dangerously. She remembered the time that Ash jumped from the Lumiose tower to save his Pikachu, and how brave he was back then. She stood on rail and reached her hand out to the island. Nothing but some blue ocean and sky in between her and Ash.

There were footsteps behind her, likely of the security officers about to tell her to come down. But all Serena wanted was to stay here a little longer and stay in her daydream.

She shouted out,

"Here I come, As-"

Serena was then pushed off the railing and into the sea accidentally by a teenage boy who was much more endearing.

"HELLO ALOLAAAAAAAAA! YOUR NEW CHAMPION IS HERE AND HE'S TAKIN NO PRISONERS, BABY!"

He kept screaming nonsense and making Jojo's references for over 30 seconds before he realized he just shunted an average girl into the ocean.

 **PROLOGUE #2:**

 **POKÉMON TRAINER BRENDAN**

 **(RUBY, SAPPHIRE, EMERALD)**

…

"Oh crap!" Brendan said as reached for his belt to take out a Pokeball.

"GO SWAMPERT!"

The Swampert dove into the ocean and chased after Serena. It swam around to the back of the boat with immense speed. Once it caught up to her, she calmed down and was about to thank her savior until she heard a familiar yell.

"HOLD HER STEADY SWAMPY!" Brendan yelled with a fishing rod, about to cast, much to Serena's misfortune.

"Wait, WHAT! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

The hook caught Serena's frilly shirt which she probably shouldn't be wearing in weather like this and hooked on tight.

Brendan then yanked the fishing rod with almost warrior-like intensity, flinging Serena up into the air in an arc, causing her to hold her skirt down and scream as per usual, before the boy caught her in his arms and promptly putting her down before any shippers could notice.

"Owwww." Serena moaned. "Was that really necessary?"

"Nah, but it was funner!" Brendan grinned with an almost charming obliviousness. "Sorry about that, I got so excited that I didn't see you!"

Serena stared at this strange individual for a while. She stared until she realized she was staring for too long and quickly introduced herself.

…

The two had a small conversation to pass the time before they got to the island. Serena learned of Brendan's motives for arriving to the Alola region.

"I'm gonna take the island trial and beat it so fast, they won't have enough time to even take a piss break!"

Serena was in awe of the older boy's determination (which reminded her of Ash), as well as his colourful language (which reminded her less of Ash)

"So," the boy then asked, "Where are you from?"

"Oh," Serena told him her situation, "well, my home is in Kalos, but I'm taking this ferry from Hoenn because I'm a performer who works there."

"Wow, I'm from Hoenn, too! Thats, insane! Everybody here is from Hoenn! It's almost like this ferry came from a dock in Hoenn!"

…

Serena stared for a moment to make sure the boy wasn't being sarcastic.

He wasn't.

…

Once they arrived on Melemele Island, they were greeted by hula dancers along with their cheering Oricorios. Serena was amazed by the different kinds of Pokémon here.

 _Now I know why Ash would want to come here,_ she thought. Just from seeing the amazing scenery around her, she seemed to understand Ash better. And that only made her want to see him more.

As the group of arrivees all started walking to the streets of Melemele, someone was heard screaming.

"RUNAWAY TAUROS! GET OUT OF THE WAY!"

Then, just as the voice exclaimed, a Tauros started rampaging across the street, with Serena and Brendan's group seemingly as its target. It was much larger than normal Tauros, and its eyes were gleaming with rage.

Serena pulled out a Pokeball, ready to stop this beast before it could injure anyone, but suddenly, a figure dashed in front of her.

" _Is that Ash?"_ She thought to herself. But no, obviously, it wasn't Ash.

He was a man of burly stature, one who could topple the the greatest of foes, the fighting type user and Island Kahuna himself…

"ITS HALA!"

Yeah, him. Hala had been chasing this Tauros ever since it ran from his care. Serena stared at the old man that was protecting her.

"Don't worry young girl, this Tauros is just having a whiny day. However, it isn't strong enough to get pa-"

"I GOT THIS!"

Brendan dashed in front of Hala himself, stealing the spotlight.

"No boy! You'll get hurt!" Hala said.

"You just said this thing wasn't strong enough, right?"

"Well... yes, but-"

"Then there's no problem!"

Brendan prepared for the raging Tauros, ignoring Hala's warnings like the Shonen protag he was. Serena, once again, stared at him. She was wondering what kind of Pokemon this boy had to deal with an angry Tauros. Would he be able to calm it down without injuring it, would he or his own Pokemon get injured, and, most importantly, ...

Where was Ash?!

But Brendan just stood there, waiting. He didn't reach for his Swampurt or any other Pokemon. He just stood there.

Did he get cold feet? Was he scared? Why wasn't he moving, and, most importantly, WHERE WAS ASH!?

But then the unthinkable happened. Brendan threw off his overcoat revealing his red undershirt along with his arms and their, rather impressive, muscles. He then widened his stance, held his arms up, and stepped forward as the Tauros rammed directly into him.

"WHAT!" Hala yelled. The entire crowd was in agreement. What was this estranged boy thinking? The Tauros was almost twice his size?

The Tauros kept pushing Brendan back towards the ocean from which he came, dragging his feet across the ground, but he remained standing. In fact, he was slowing it down! Brendan had grabbed the bull by the horns! The Tauros's forward motion had stopped before the dock as it and Brendan were now face to face.

"Hey there, you're a tough little guy, aren't you?"

The Tauros's eyes shifted from fierce to panicking as Brendan made his move.

He shifted his arms and placed his hands below the Tauros's horns and proceeded to flip it on its side!

"Well too bad for you, I'M TOUGHER!" he screamed while doing so. He had taken the giant Pokémon down!

…

After the Pokemon had calmed down, Brendan and Hala walked towards it.

"Sorry, little guy, hope I didn't hurt you." Brendan petted the massive Tauros, which it seemed to enjoy.

Hala then asked the boy,

"You're quite strong for your age, aren't you?"

"Well, I'm sixteen, so... yeah. Plus, a farm kids gotta have somethin packin or else they get booted!"

"Ah, so you're from a farm, eh?"

Brendan grinned at the wise man's praise, before he got knocked over the head by him.

"THAT'S STILL NOT AN EXCUSE TO PUT YOURSELF AT DANGER! IDIOT CHILD!"

"Owwwww! Ok, I'm sorry!"

Soon after, the kids from the Pokemon school arrived. Hala greeted them.

"Ah, Professor Kukui! Good to see you!"

"Good to see you, too, Hala!" the professor walked over to his old friend, leaving his class. "So, what happened here? It looks like someone made a Giga Impact on the dock."

"Just a little mishap with old Ares."

Brendan blurted in. "His name is Ares? Wow, thats badass!"

"And who are you?" Kukui asked.

"This boy is the one that stopped Ares."

"I'm the one who's gonna be the champion of this joint! Name's Brendan!"

"Ohh, are you now?" Kukui asked, intrigued. _This kid looks like he could have what it takes. He has quite a lot of determination, along with some supposed strength. Could he be the one?_

"Sorry to say, Brendan, but we don't have a Pokemon League in Alola."

"Whaaaaaat? Really? That sucks! I thought the one who beat the Island Trial things got to be Champion! "

Kukui and Hala smirked at each other. "Yeah, well, who knows? Maybe we will have something like that at some point. In fact I-

"Professor Kukui! Hurry up!"

"Oh, that's just Ash!" Kukui started walking back to his students. "Still, you should take on the Island Trial. You might learn a thing or two."

"Alright then, I guess." Brendan replied to the professor. "Well, that guy was weird, huh?

Hala turned back to Brendan. "He's not the only oddball here."

"Hey, I'm not that weird, old guy!"

"Well, you are, but I wasn't referring to you." Hala pointed to where Serena was now laying. "That girl over there. She passed out."

"From the shock of Ares?"

"No, from the site of that Ash boy!"

"Whazzat!?" Brendan turned to see Serena on the ground with love hearts floating around her.

"Apparently her heart couldn't take seeing him, I guess… wait, what!?"

"Hey, awkward girl!" Brendan yelled to Serena as he ran over to her aid.

"Serena?" Ash said, confused.

…

Serena was dazed. Why was she swaying around? She got up from the cabin bed she was in and looked out the window. She was on the ferry again. Last thing she remembered was seeing...- wait!

Was it all a dream? Did her meeting with that Brendan person never happen? It must be. She was just so excited to see Ash that she dreamed about seeing him earlier than planned. She looked out the window again. She saw the beautiful Island Alola in the distance again. And it was getting… smaller?

"Wait, WHAT!?"

"Oh, miss Serena! You're awake!" A sailor woman entered her room.

"What's going on?"

"That nice boy told me to give you this," She handed Serena a letter, which she then opened to read.

 _Hey, awkward girl! We tried waking you up before we sent you off, but every time that kid got in your line of site, you kept passing out again. So we decided to move you as far away from him as possible! We sent you on that ferry back to Hoenn. Don't worry, I payed for everything! With the money I found in your purse! Hope I'll see you again!_

 _-Brendan_

" _..."_

…

…

" **WAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"**

…

So, now we're back to Brendan.

He was walking towards the grounds of Tapu Coco as Hala told him. He was ready to take on the challenge.

"You ready, Swampert?"

"Swaa!"

"Alright, then. ALOLA! HERE! WE! COME!


	3. The Collector

A plane from Sinnoh was about to land on Melemele.

As the plane landed, the hula dancers and welcome party prepared themselves as they were still a little shaken up by the previous Tauros attack.

"You sure Hala has it under control now?"

"I heard he needed help from a boy that arrived on the ferry!"

"It's true! I saw it myself!"

"What!? Can't Hala defend us by himself?"

They were hushed by the arrival of the plane passengers getting off the plane. They were mostly tourists that had arrived to see the Pokémon, and that's exactly what the welcome party was for.

"Alright, everyone. Let's do this!" The main hula dancer said. Not a complex pep talk, but an effective one.

Passengers walked by one by one, all taking pictures and shaking hands, some even tried to dance. The genuine fun the passengers seemed to have put the welcome party's minds at ease. It doesn't matter whether the Kahunas are feeling ill or not, as long as they have each other and believe in the spirit of the Tapus, everything will work out.

The final passenger came off the plane. It was a teenage boy with his head in his phone and headphones on. He walked down the stairs and almost right by the welcome party.

"Excuse me!" One of the hula dancers called out to him in a friendly voice.

The boy didn't here her at all.

"Um, excuse me?" She asked again in a more questioning voice.

The boy still didn't hear her.

This time, instead, one of the Oricorios flew over to him and took his headphones off.

"Hey, what are you-" the boy stopped as he saw the Pokémon.

He was intrigued by its design and he had read up how its appearance changes depending on which island it's on. The boy then saw the other Pokémon in the party that he hadn't seen in person before.

"Are these Pokémon yours?" He asked.

"Nope!" The hula dancer said, glad he was now listening. "All of the Pokémon in the welcome party are just here to give a smiling face t-"

He threw Quick Balls at one of each. The Oricorio escaped, only to be thrown an Ultra Ball and captured.

The boy then walked away tapping away at his phone, which was also his Pokedex.

...

"But-but…" the Hula dancer muttered, horrified.

"Oh, yeah," the boy said, "you can keep those if you want."

"But… you can't do that to Pokémon!"

The boy looked confused.

"You mean to tell me that a Pokémon trainer shouldn't catch Pokémon?"

The hula dancer stared at him with horror in her eyes.

"Sigh",look, you can release them again if you want, it's not that big of a deal. What I'm doing is far more important than a Pokémon losing a minute of its freedom."

"And what is that?"

The boy turned around.

…

"Completing the Pokedex."

 **POKÉMON TRAINER LUCAS**

 **(DIAMOND, PEARL, AND PLATINUM)**


	4. The Fall

As we return to Hilbert, he was still falling... asleep-what!?

"Snore…"

Hey!

"Whazzat? "Yawn,"

You're... sleeping.

"Took you long enough. Whats happening jerk-wad?"

Why are you sleeping!? YOU'RE THOUSANDS OF FEET UP IN THE AIR!

"You left me up here for almost two days! What was I supposed to do? Twiddle my thumbs?"

Well sorry, but I can't make these things instantaneously, they take time!

"Well next time, why don't you, oh, I dunno, START WITH SOMEONE ELSE SO THAT SOMEONE DOESN'T END UP STUCK IN THE WORST KIND OF CLIFFHANGER FOR 30 HOURS!"

Oh, shut up! It's your fault you're up here in the first place!

"No! It's yours!"

Alright you little ground-humping son of a-

"Hey, looks like you lost that 'important narrator voice' again."

Wait, I did? Crap!

"You really suck at writing don't you?"

RRRRHHGGGGGG!

"Are you seriously writing out a fake argument you're having with a fake character you made up and still losing!?"

Alright, seriously. There's a limit to how meta this can get.

"Then stop typing this conversation you weeb!"

FINE I WILL! Hilbert continues his fall down to his death!

"Wait- WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

But not before getting hit by 50 Wingul.

"Pwaa! Ptoo! GWAA!"

...And a Skarmory

"GGFFFFFFFFF-"

...And a Steelix

"HGGUU-"

…

...And a tractor

"ARE YOU KIDDING M- QWDJIWQEJQUEQUE"

 **PROLOGUE #4:**

 **POKEMON TRAINER "GROUND-HUMPER" HILBERT**

 **(BLACK AND WHITE)**

"Oh, now you're just being salty!"

As Hilbert got closer to the ground he saw that he was about to fall into a forest. He prayed that the trees would break his fall.

No seriously, he… prayed.

...to Arceus.

Now he was in the forest. Thankfully, his prayer worked and one of the vines hooked onto his foot.

"Yes! I'm saved!"

Of course, physics would have to disagree with that.

"Wait, wha-"

The vine bobbed him up and down like a bungee rope until it snapped, causing to fall through 10 trees, 22 branches, and 15 different forest Pokemon, all of which had some moves they wanted to show him, before finally connecting with the ground.

"PWWAAA-"

"Sigh, finally, I'm safe."

Unfortunately, nature had a thing to say about that.

"What could possibly- OH DEAR ARCEUS NO!"

A Snorlax was about to roll onto Hilbert and Pulverize him like a Pancake.

"Did-did you really just-"

Snorlax was about to fall on him.

"Oh yeah! Crap!"

Hilbert had to go back to his training at the "How to avoid a Snorlax lying down on you" university and used his ultimate technique; the "Snorlax Dodge Maneuver Dodge", with which he escaped the behind of the Snorlax.

"Yeah!"

If that university was real and that technique really existed.

"Seriousl-"

Hilbert was now crushed by the giant Snorlax.

"Really startin to think you have a grudge on me."

Stop breaking the fourth wall and move on.

"Sorry."

Still, at least he didn't run into any Bewares.

"Be-whats?"

A Beware came by and kicked both the Snorlax and Hilbert away.

…

Hilbert woke up at the bottom of a hill in a really awkward position with his legs above his head. It was nighttime. He was still beat up, but knew he couldn't stay there for long.

So he stayed there until he got too hungry to move.

He stayed there, lying on the ground.

…

…

…

"Would be real nice if any of my Pokemon were to COME OUT AND HELP ME!" he screamed.

...

Nothing happened.

...

Hilbert knew. His Pokeballs had probably fallen out of his bag long ago.

He was destroyed.

Too hungry to move, too far away from society to call for help, and too lazy to even bother getting out of this painful position.

…

He lost his Pokemon, his friends.

" _It always ends up like this, every time"_ He thought.

...

He was just there, immobile.

…

In that painful position

...

He started thinking about things that he knew shouldn't be thought about.

...

…

 _You know, with a life like mine, dying doesn't seem so bad right about now._

...

He knew he shouldn't have, but he let that thought drift him to sleep.

…

…

…

…

…

Hilbert woke up to the sound of birds.

"Wingul! Wing wing!"

His body wasn't in that painful position anymore.

His body wasn't in pain anymore.

He was fine. He didn't have any scratches, bruises, or even bandages to speak of. Even his clothes were changed, which he didn't mind his old ones were torn to shreds. He now had a black T-shirt with black shorts and a white beach vest.

"The heck happened?" Hilbert looked around at his new attire. Again, he wasn't worried about anything getting stolen because he was broke and anything he would have was gone anyway.

He got up and started running up the hill.

 _Why am I alright? I could've sworn my body wasn't working a second ago._

He kept pondering this as he ran up the hill with his replenished strength.

 _Was it just a dream? Was it-_

His pondering was paused as he had bumped straight into something at the top of the hill.

"Owww." the boy said.

"Arrgh, man! Kid, can't you watch where the hack you're going!?" Hilbert said as he got up.

"Sorry bout that." the boy said as he got up too.

They both picked up their hats and walked past each other without even seeing the other's face.

"Come on Pikachu!" The boy said running down the hill with his blue and white-striped shirt.

"Man. Stupid kid." Hilbert said as he put the hat on and looked over the top of the hill. Little did either of them know that they had picked up the wrong hat. Both were now wearing the other's.

"Alright." Hilbert said, not realizing the mix-up. "Multiple questions; Why am I Ok, why are my clothes different, where are my Pokemon, and most importantly…

… who was that kid?

...Oh yeah, and…

WHERE THE HECK AM I?!"

 **NEXT CHAPTER: THE MEETING**


	5. The Meeting

As Luna looked at the sight before her, she was speechless, which made sense because this was a dream. She saw 7 figures in front of her, but only recognized 4.

The fiery warrior of Akkala mountain, who could burn anything in his path with his Fire Type Pokemon. The Alola region's Fire trial captain, Kiawe.

The brave and courageous leader of the Lush jungle, who could bring down the tallest and sturdiest of trees with her Grass Type Pokemon. The Alola region's Grass trial captain, Mallow.

The gentle yet powerful defender of the waters of Alola, who could send mighty waves to all of her enemies with her Water Type Pokemon. The Alola region's Water trial captain, Lana.

The tech wiz of Alola's security and the head of Hokulani observatory, who could hack into any system and electrocute any opponent at the same time in seconds with his Electric Type Pokemon. The Alola region's Lightning Trial captain, Sophocles.

While Luna didn't know the rest, she knew that they were all trial captains. Except for one. He had a red and white shirt on along with a red cap and a Pikachu. Luna had no idea who he was, but she knew he had immense strength.

But, there was something else. Luna turned around and saw that there were three figures leading this charge.

 _ **WE ARE THE POKEMON MASTERS**_

...

Luna woke up in a fright! She nearly fell off the hammock that was being provided to her. Ever since Mr. Hala took her in, she had been having the same dream over and over again.

"I probably shouldn't have slept so late. Helping that guy outside really slowed me down. "Yawn."

She dozed off back to sleep.

 **CHAPTER 1: THE MEETING**

Lucas was walking to the professor's office. On route, he was picking up any new Pokemon he could find. In that small walk he had caught 22 Pokemon and would've been far from finished if Brendan hadn't burst out of the trees and knocked him over.

Good old Brendan.

The two collapsed on the ground and cartoonishly rolled of the side of the hill into grass, rocks and water.

After a while of falling (maybe 5 minutes, tops) the two stopped on the path to Iki town.

"What are you doing you idiot? Who are you?" Lucas said, currently pinned down by the other boy.

"No time! Gotta-" He was breathing heavily from all that running.

"Gotta what? Get off me!"

As the boys were struggling, Hilbert came in… ...jogging? Speedwalking? ...Limping? Whatever it was, it wasn't running. He looked perfectly fine was wheezing once he arrived.

As he stopped to take a breather, he analyzed the scenario in front of him.

"Well, 'sigh' I can see 'sigh' that I interrupted something very personal. I will now leave you two to your mating session."

"SHUT UP!" the two boys on the ground said in unison. They then realized that the lazy trainer had a point and quickly got up.

They then tried to explain themselves.

"Well, this guy just uppin got in my way as I was running and I ran into him!" Brendan started.

"Oh are you serious!? That's some of the most backwards logic I've ever heard! I was simply walking along until you just popped out the forest without thinking clearly!" Lucas responded.

"Well at least I had a good reason!"

"And what was that? Did your Pokemon get hurt and you need sweet little Nurse Joy at the Pokemon Center? You amataur trash."

Brendan grabbed Lucas by the collar and brought him eye to eye.

"What did you just say!?"

"Ooh, think he struck a nerve there." Hilbert said jokingly.

"You heard me. Amataur. Trash." Lucas said with a sinful grin on his face.

Brendan snapped and completely forgot his previous motives.

"Alright crap-basket, I'M GONNA PUNCH YOUR FACE IN SO HARD IT'S GONNA COME OUT YOUR A-"

"Ladies, ladies, please. Stop your bickering." Hilbert intergected. "If you wanna fight so badly, why not have a Pokemon battle?" He pointed to the wooden arena nearby.

The bickering boys looked at the stadium, then at each other, and then nodded.

"Fine." said Lucas.

"Sounds fun." said Brendan.

"But on one condition." Lucas.

"What?"

"You have to battle too!" Brendan said.

"You read my mind, trash." Lucas said.

"Oh, did I, crap-basket?" Brendan replied.

Hilbert barged in. "As much as I enjoy the unadulterated amount of shipping fuel there is here, why exactly do have to be a part of this feud?"

"Because you're annoying!"

"Ah."

…

The three trainers stood ready on the battlefield. Well, almost but… you'll see.

Lucas started, "I think we introduce ourselves as trainers first. Common courtesy and all that."

"Alright then, name's Brendan!"

"Lucas."

"The names Hilbert, you best remember it."

"Wait, what?" Brendan was trying hold in his laughter.

"What is it?" Hilbert asked.

"Hil-bert? Really? What kind of name is that?" said Lucas, chuckling.

The two other boys started laughing. "Least we won't have a hard time remembering that, huh?" Lucas said, gleefully.

"Hey! Are we gonna get this stupid battle started or what?" Hilbert spewed in anger.

The other two boys agreed and they all reached for their Pokemon.

Hilbert was ready to show these idiots what for and prove to them why he was the greatest trainer they'd ever seen.

...Until he reached for his bag and remembered that his Pokeballs had all fallen out.

"Crap!" he yelled, rummaging through his new pockets to no avail.

The other two boys were waiting, Pokeballs in hand.

"Need help, or... something?" Brendan asked.

"Oh, come on!" Hilbert said getting more and more desperate. He could tell that these trainers meant business just by looking at them, he couldn't just use any old Pokemon to take them down.

…

"THEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRR-"

They heard something in the distance.

"What is that?" Lucas asked.

"YYYYYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-"

Something was speeding towards Hilbert at intense speed.

"Are!" the girl stopped two feet from Hilbert, causing him to fall over.

Before Hilbert even got up, she dangled a bag in front of him.

"That- That's mine!" he said in shock. She handed him the bag as he got up. He then looked through it.

"Sorry! I forgot to give these back to you after I found them in the forest." she apologized.

"My Pokemon!" Hilbert said excitedly.

"Yeah, I was looking to return them to you ever since I-"

"So YOU'RE the one that stole them!"

"Wha-"

"You said that you found them, that means you took them off my beaten body! You dirty theif!"

"But i jus-"

"Don't try and deny it!"

"Hey!" Brendan interrupted. "She said she was sorry! Get over it!"

"Yeah," Lucas agreed "and don't be an idiot, she never said a thing about taking them away from you."

"Oh, right." Hilbert admitted, realizing his miscalculation.

"Hey, that boy is yelling at that poor girl!" Someone said. A crowd was starting to form.

"All she did was help you!"

Apparently they were eavesdropping, too.

"How awful!"

"What's he doing here?"

"Get out!"

Hilbert sighed as he knew what was coming next. It had happened to him many times before.

...

Crowds of people booing and insulting him, unrelenting in their abuse. The second they saw something unnatural to them, they'd pound it down endlessly until it was out of their sight.

Everytime he blurted out something it would always be the wrong thing. Then everyone around him would turn on him. As he was used to this, Hilbert had an almost mechanical response. He ended up seeing them as mean-spirited and biased and pushed them out of his mind. He saw them as nothing but dark figures in the corner of his mind.

"Hey, are you alright?"

He turned and saw the girl standing next to him.

"Sorry." She said, grinning "it's my fault these guys are booing you."

She wasn't mad about him blaming her at all.

"Can I still watch your battle?" she asked.

"Hey, Hillbilly!"

Hilbert turned again to see his two opponents.

"You ready now 'er what?" Brendan said, smiling in his direction. "You're not wimping out on us now, are you?"

"Don't bother, trash. He's too afraid to move, aren't you?" Lucas said in his condescending tone.

Hilbert saw these people and heard what they said. They wanted to give him a chance to show what he was made of.

And wasn't going to let his new rivals down.

"Pfft, you kidding?" he said, back to his snarky tone. "You two posers couldn't beat me even if you tried!"

They all set themselves up. The girl jumped off the soon-to-be-broken stadium.

Brendan threw off his overcoat.

Lucas finally took off his blue hood, scarf, and hat and gave them to his Garchomp, revealing his light-blue T-Shirt.

Hilbert grabbed a Pokeball, placed it in his cap and threw it aside. His Bisharp came out to hold the hat and his white beach vest as he threw it to him.

"You're not gonna pick that up?" Hilbert asked Brendan. "This battle's gonna get messy."

"I don't need no coat to take you two prissy's down!" He said in reply, much to the relief of most of the females in the crowd.

"You should really take more care of your clothing." Lucas said in response.

"Hah! He's the flamboyant one," Hilbert said, pointing to Lucas, "and he's the burly one!" pointing to Brendan. "A match made in heaven!"

The fangirls screamed.

"SHUT UP!" the two grooms said in unison.

…

...What? I can get in the shipping action too, can't I?

With that, they each grabbed a second Pokeball and got ready. Then they all said in unison;

"I CHOOSE YOU!"

Next time: The Battle That Starts It All


	6. The Battle

"Swampurt!"

"Samurott!"

"Empoleon!"

The three water Pokémon got sent out to make their stand.

Before the battle could begin, Samurott looked over at Hilbert.

"What?" Hilbert asked the samurai Pokémon.

But Hilbert knew.

"You idiot! What the heck are you doing worrying about a guy like me at a time like this? Get in there!"

The Samurott smiled and turned to face its new opponents.

By simply looking at the Pokémon, Hilbert could tell in an instant what their personalities were.

Exact projections of their trainers.

Lucas's Empoleon had its wings crossed and was trying its best to look down on its opponents despite it being around the same height as them.

Brendan's Swampert was in a constant state of growl and showing off its muscles. It was itching for a fight so badly that it could barely hold still, kind of like his trainer.

With a crowd of around 18 people, the trainers started their battle with 3 simultaneous moves.

"Swampert, Brick Break!"

"Samurott, Razor Shell!"

"Empoleon, Metal Claw!"

The Pokémon moved with blinding speed. Their attacks were so equal in strength that they clashed into a stalemate, cracking the floor of the wooden arena. None of them were backing down.

The second they attacked, Lucas's brain kicked into high gear.

That Swampert knowing Brick Break shows how simple-minded Brendan is. Brick Break is mainly an attacking move that can break through barriers like reflect. Having this move means that Swampert is a Pokémon mainly used for rushing in without having to worry about being blocked. However, Brendan didn't take Swampert's defence into account. And on top of that, the strength is wasted on a fighting type move in this stalemate, since both me and Hilbert are using moves that match our type.

And because I'm using Metal Claw, I can expect Empoleon's attack to increase as the battle goes on as long as I keep using it!

"Now, Empoleon! Drill Peck!"

Empoleon spun around with deadly speed, pushing away and damaging its opponents.

Now, time to go on the offensive!

"Now use Metal Claw on Swampert!"

Empoleon obeyed and aimed its body straight at Swampert. It speeded towards it as the Swampert was still recovering from the previous attack.

The crowd cheered at the intensity of this battle as more people joined in to watch.

Brendan was clenching his fists as he could do nothing but watch as his Pokémon took the hit.

Lucas's strategy was going perfectly.

But just before Empoleon could strike, a flash of blue separated the two of them, leaving nothing but both Pokémon on the ground, injured.

The crowd gasped. It was now twice in size.

Lucas and Brendan looked for the culprit only to hear Hilbert laughing and the crowd booing.

"Heh, heh, I know you two love staring into each other's eyes, but you really shouldn't ignore me."

What the heck just happened?

Lucas's brain raced for answers. He knew he didn't hear Hilbert call a command, so how did he get Samurott to attack? The reason Lucas attacked without considering Hilbert was because he was using his ears to make sure he didn't call anything, but Empoleon still got hit so that obviously didn't work.

He looked at the wound inflicted on Empoleon. It was a sword wound, meaning Samurott had used Razor Shell. But that didn't help him. He still had to find out what Hilbert was doing. He decided to shift his focus onto the lazy trainer.

"Empoleon! Get Metal Claw ready!"

Empoleon obeyed. It got up and prepared its wings. It looked around for the Samurai Pokémon.

"Come on, where is it?" Lucas said.

He wouldn't wondering very long.

Samurott instantaneously appeared behind Empoleon and slashed it before it could move its wings to block.

Still no command.

Lucas was getting annoyed.

"What's happening here?!" He yelled as Empoleon tried to keep itself steady.

Hilbert chuckled as Samurott landed next to him.

"For a guy who likes to preach about planning ahead, you really don't like taking your own advice, do you?" He said with a smug look on his face.

Lucas was getting really annoyed.

He's obviously trying to provoke me, but attacking him without a plan is a bad idea for multiple reasons. One, by using Razor Shell over and over again, his chances of lowering Empoleon's defences is increasing rapidly. In fact, I wouldn't surprised if Empoleon's defences were already lowered from those attacks alone. Two, I don't know all of Samurott's moves yet, so he could still pull something out of left field and jump us, like a fighting type move or a another stat lowering move.

He clenched his fists in anger.

Crap! I'm already in a tough spot and the battle just started!

"Hey, tell you what? I'll show you my little trick again if you can manage to hit me. How's that?" Hilbert offered.

"Sounds a little like a trap, but also like a fair deal." Lucas said, weighing his options. He wouldn't need to make a choice.

"ENOUGH OF THIS! I'M TIRED OF WAITING AROUND JUST TO GET HIT!" Brendan screamed. "Swampert, USE BRICK BREAK ON THE GROUND!"

Swampert obeyed its trainer and smashed the wooden arena into bits.

The crowd started scurrying in panic.

"Oh, boy!" Said Hilbert trying to keep his balance.

"You can't just break things cause you want to!" Lucas scolded, trying keep balance while also calculating how much property damage was about to be caused.

"Oh yeah? WATCH ME! Swampert, MUDDY WATER!

The Swampert summoned a wave of mud about 10 meters high and sent it towards the other Pokémon and, by extension, their trainers and, by extension, the city behind them.

The crowd ran away as swiftly as possible as the wave started moving in the direction of the city and beach area.

"Well ain't this just a shiny, summer day." Hilbert said sarcastically before getting washed away by a giant mudslide.

"YOU IDIOT TRASH! YOU STUPID IDIOT TRA-" screamed Lucas before also getting washed away.

The mudslide barreled through the street, straight into the beach area, taking a hot-dog stand, multiple bicycles, and a car along with it. Not to mention all the pedestrians now covered in mud.

"Oh," Brendan said as he realized his mistake. "Um… whoops."

He and his Swampert started running down towards the town to catch up to his opponents whom he sent rushing down a wave of mud.

As Brendan arrived at the beach area looked around for his rivals. The car he had hit was tipped over and now standing on its hood. The hot dog stand and most of the bikes were now in the water.

"Hey!" Brendan yelled to his friends. "Hillbilly! Crap-basket! Where are you?!"

He kept looking around. He knew they didn't fall into the water, so where were they?"

He got his answer as Samurott slashed at Swampert with Razor Shell.

"SWAAA!" Swampert cried out.

"Hey! What was that for?" Brendan yelled out to Hilbert, whom he was still looking for.

"Who the heck told you this battle was over?" Hilbert said, revealing his position. He had grabbed one of the beach chairs and was now sitting on it as the battle commenced. "Also, Hillbilly? Really?"

"Guess you got a point." replied, preparing for battle. "But still," he asked "Where the heck is Crap-Basket? You guys got washed away together didn't you?"

"I dunno, I just got here." replied Hilbert as he, too, looked around for their third rival from the comfort of his beach chair.

Their questions were soon answered.

Lucas walked up to the edge of the beach from the sidewalk with some strange things in his hands.

After looking at them long enough, Hilbert realized what they were.

And then almost fell off his beach chair as he burst out in laughter.

"Wa-HAHA-ter-" he could barely speak with how hard he was laughing. "WATER GUNS? PffHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAH! Really? That's your big game-changing weapon!?"

He kept laughing and rocking his beach chair front and back.

"Ha ha… um-" Brendan asked "What's a water gun? Isn't that like a move or something?"

Hilbert immediately stopped laughing, grabbed a bucket of sandy water for a spit-take, then handed the bucket to his Samurott to do the spit take for him.

"You've never used a water gun before?! How depressing was your childhood?" he asked.

"Um… I dunno, it was pretty ok."

Samurott did another spit-take for Hilbert.

"HEY!" Lucas screamed. Walked down to the beach with his water-firing toys. Empoleon was right behind him.

"Thank you for bringing my luggage, Jessily." he said to the female butler.

"Of course sir." The female butler said in response. She had a suitcase right beside her that had a nametag reading "Master Lucas" on it.

"Now," the boy continued. He pointed his water guns at his two rivals as they started to whir.

The water guns started to transform into high powered, high pressure mini water cannons.

"Wait whaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!!!???" Hilbert exclaimed in absolute surprise.

"Uh, are water guns supposed to do that?" Brendan asked genuinely. "Cause if they are I want one."

"No, Brendan I'm sorry. Water guns aren't supposed to do that." Hilbert answered, still dumbstruck."

"Aw."

The water cannons in Lucas's hands gave a sharp beeping noise, like signal saying they were ready to fire.

Lucas said to his competitors;

"Never doubt a genius's intuition."

He then fired one of the cannons. An intense high pressure of water streamed out just barely missing Hilbert's face. The water was so high-pressure, it dug a hole so deep that it created a stream that connected from the ocean to a foot away from Hilbert's beach chair.

"Are. You. KIDDING ME!?" he exclaimed in awe.

"Crap, it's been awhile since I've used these. My aim is off." Lucas explained, adjusting the cannons.

"What the HECK do you think you're doing? Trainers aren't allowed to battle! Especially not with those!" Hilbert yelled to the now weaponized boy.

"Don't you start with that!" Lucas exclaimed. "Do you know how much it'll cost to fix the damage you idiots have done!? I know for a fact that both of you are absolutely broke! So I'M the one who's gonna have to pay for all this! So the least I can do-" He started preparing his second cannon "-is make this victory a little more satisfying!"

"Oh." Hilbert nodded in understanding. The angry Lucas made good- -no not a good point. What kind of point did he make? A relatable one, that's it. Hilbert believed that Lucas had made a relatable point.

Yeah, if I was in that situation, I'd probably be doing the same thing. He thought.

All of their Pokemon sighed and went to the sidewalk to get to know each other as the teenagers had their little deul. Jessily made them some snacks. Despite having similar personalities to their trainers, they didn't have nearly enough angst or hormones in order for them to want to prove their dominance to no one but themselves.

Lucas aimed the second cannon at Brendan, who was still in awe of how awesome the cannons were. Lucas fired and hit Brendan straight in the face.

"Woah, Brendan!" Hilbert said as he saw the trainer fall to the ground.

"Don't worry," Lucas explained. "These things aren't deadly and I put them at the lowest pressure setting."

"Oh, okay." Hilbert understood.

"It'll still hurt."

"Oh, okay." Hilbert understood. "In that case, Brendan better call the dry cleaners because you got him all-"

"Say another word, and your ears get waterlogged." said Lucas, now holding the cannon inches from Hilbert's head.

"Waddaya mean? I was just about to say you got him all-"

"DON'T YOU DARE!"

"wet"

Lucas blasted the lazy trainer out of his seat and into the water.

Hilbert would've stayed there if the water right at the bank wasn't filthy with mud, bicycle parts, and hot dog juice. So Hilbert quickly got up.

"Worth."

Ash was running back to class after his morning training. He was running by the beach until he saw a massive crowd of people along with his friends; Lillie, Mallow, Lana, Kiawe, and Sophopha-'ahem

Sophocla-

Sophola-

So-phol-cles. Got it.

"Hey guys!" Ash greeted his friends. "What's happening?"

"Hi Ash!" Mallow greeted him back along with everyone else. "We're not sure, we just got here too."

"I think I heard there was a battle going on." Kiawe said.

"A battle!?" Ash exclaimed in excitement. "Let's go see it! Come on!"

The class of Professor Kukui nudged their way through the crowd. After some struggling, they managed to make it to the front. What they saw was... odd, to say the least.

A Samurott, a Swampert, and an Empoleon were all having tea and biscuits with a lady butler while there were three teenagers on the beach in a sea of recently-thrown hotdogs, with one of them chasing the other two with what seemed to be water guns.

"This… looks weird." Sophocles said. The rest of the group agreed.

Hilbert had had enough of this nonsense.

"Samurott! Get your lazy butt over here and help me!"

"You too, Swampert!" Brendan said.

"Empoleon, get over here and back me up!" Lucas responded to the other trainers commands.

All three of the water starters jumped over to help their trainers. The three teams squared off.

"You two aren't as bad as I thought you'd be." Lucas said, smiling. He then threw his water guns back to Jessily. "I think I've had enough of these. I want to beat you two fair and square!"

"Heh, thanks." Brendan replied. "But I'm not losing to a couple of wimps like you two. I'll beat you so hard you'll be beggin for mercy!"

"You guys are practically giving me new shipping material." Hilbert joked, much to the disdain of his rivals. "And don't mad when destroy you at your own game."

They were at an impas. Which one would make the next move? Who would start the final round of this battle?

"SWAMPURT!"

Apparently Brendan.

"UUUUUUUUSSEEEE-"

"Oh, great. What now?" Lucas said, annoyed.

"EARTH POWER!"

"Haha, wat?" Hilbert asked.

Swampert slammed the ground with so much force, it created tremors in the ground beneath sand. The crowd was a far enough distance away, thankfully, but could still feel the tremors created by the Pokemon.

"You idiot TRASH! You did that on purpose!' Lucas angrily exclaimed.

"Ha!" Brendan laughed. "If you're gonna cover the damages then I don't have to hold back!"

Explosions of earth started to erupt from where the tremors were.

Crap! This isn't good! If Empoleon gets hit by tremors this powerful, it's all over! I need to stop him before that happens!

"Empoleon! Hydro Cannon!"

Empoleon tried to stop the Swampert with its giant ball of pressurized water.

"I don't think so! Swampert, Protect!"

Swampert created a barrier of protection to stop the Hydro Cannon and continue its ground assault.

The crowd looked on in awe as this battle was about to reach its final moments.

"Nothing's gonna stop me from winning this!" Brendan exclaimed.

While they were having their exchange, Hilbert was looking for a new strategy. He saw a surfboard left on the ground.

Then it hit him.

No the surfboard literally hit him and that gave him an idea.

"Samurott! Take this and hold it under you!"

Samurott understood and took the surfboard.

Then it waited. It put itself in a state of complete zen, like a samurai. Then, an explosion of earth erupted beneath it, causing both Samurott and the board to fly up in the air.

The audience gasped. Samurott used its focus to adjust itself midair. And pointed itself at its two opponents.

Hilbert ran over to get a good view of command.

"Great, Samurott! Now we have the high ground! Use Razor Shell!"

A man in the crowd said; "What's he thinking!? How is he gonna use a physical move from that distance?!"

Little did he know of Samurott's strength and accuracy. The Pokemon threw its swords, one attacking Empoleon and one attacking Swampert. This lest both Pokemon dazed and their defences lowered.

"Woah!" Ash exclaimed. "Awsome!"

"Empoleon!"

"Swampert, no!"

"Now," Hilbert yelled with adrenaline pumping through his veins. "this battle is over!"

"SAMUROTT, USE-

Before he could give the command, Hilbert's face was shoved into the sand.

"Doof-" Hilbert's voice was muffled by the sand.

"Lycanroc! Use Fissure!" A woman's voice said. A Lycanroc jumped above the crowd and slammed its paw onto the ground. Instead of making more cracks on the beach, the Pokemon closed the wounds caused by the previous Earth Power.

Samurott fell into the sand with no command to stop its motion.

"Wh-what happened? Lana asked.

The crowd looked around confused.

"It's the Kahunas!" Kiawe answered.

"YOU IDIOT!" An old man jumped down and clocked Brendan in the forehead. A Hariyama also came and drove Empoleon and Swampert into the ground.

"Owww! Hala? What're you doing here?" Brendan asked, rubbing his head.

"What's going on?" Lucas asked also.

"Mrrffrrvvrr mmffvv! (I'd like to know too!)" Hilbert asked with his head in the ground. A Crabrawler crawled onto the back of his head.

Hala looked over at Lucas. He was about to give him some tough love too, if it wasn't for Jessily blocking his path with tremendous speed.

"I'll have to ask you to refrain from attacking the Master, sir." she told him off.

"Fine, I won't hurt him, but I still have to scold him for what he and the other two idiots have done to the place."

"No need to scold him, sir."

"And why's that?"

"Because I will do it myself."

Lucas was about to object, but got his fill of shouting as Hala scolded Brendan.

As they were being scolded, a woman in scantily clad clothing walked through the crowd. She went to the Lycanroc and pet it.

"Well aren't these boys interesting." She said.

"Hey look it's Olivia!" The crowd shouted in glee.

"Mrrrffvvrr vrrrrr? (Olivi- who?)" Hilbert asked with his head still in the ground.

A hand grabbed his collar and picked him up off the ground.

"Sorry, but you boys are in a lot of trouble." Kukui said with a grin on his face.


	7. The Responsibility

After their scolding, the three trainers had been taken away from the crowd to the dock and lined up in front of the Kahuna's and Professor Kukui for them to decide what their punishment will be.

"Come on, old man Hala! Give us a break! No one got hurt!" Brendan said, trying to compromise.

"YOU FOOL!" Hala yelled before knocking him over the head. "You three are lucky that Olivia was here to take care of the massive damage you caused to this area!"

"Why, because you wouldn't have been able to handle it?" Hilbert said mockingly, which he paid for with his own knock to the head.

"Idiot boys! I should-"

Hala was interrupted by his own cough of blood. The girl that helped Hilbert rushed over to his aid.

"Are you alright, Mister Hala?" she said as she supported him and wiped away the blood with a napkin.

"Yes, Luna dear, thank you. I will just sit over there until I can shake off this headache."

"I'll come with you." Luna replied. "It's the least I can do."

After the ill Kahuna left, the slightly better fairing Kahuna, Olivia, came to talk to the boys herself.

"Hey, is Old Man Hala gonna be okay?" Brendan asked.

"That's not important right now." Olivia stated.

"Yes it is! He's coughing up blood! How is that not important!" Brendan argued.

Olivia sighed. "Look, I'm not very good at these things. Its sweet for you to worry about him, but that Luna girl over there, you met her right? She's the one taking care of him."

"And been doing a real good job of it, too." Kukui added. "She's been giving him a Helping Hand ever since Hala found her collapsed on the road one day."

"That's right." Olivia said. "So no need to worry about Hala. What you should be worried about is how much trouble you boys are in for destroying much of Iki town."

"Come on, it wasn't that bad! And you fixed most of it!" Brendan assumed.

Kukui pulled out a list. "Destruction of the ceremonial battlefield, the loss and damaging of multiple people's personal bicycles, the ruining of a car and hotdog stand, the pollution of the waters around the beach, not to mention the many lives you endangered with your little scuffle."

"Oh… whoops." Brendan replied as realized how much was actually damaged in the process of their battle.

Lucas looked up and started arguing. "Can I interject? I'd like to mention the fact that I hardly caused any of that property damage! I barely got a hit in the battle at all! It was the idiot trash over there that caused most of it, so why am I here?"

"Hey you can't leave us hanging!" Brendan exclaimed.

"Yeah! At least take me with you!" Hilbert said.

"Yeah! Wait what?"

Olivia tried to calm them down. "Well you-"

"Ma'am." Olivia was interrupted by Jessily, who had come out of the check-in area. She walked over to Lucas.

She gave him a cold stare.

She then gave him a hard slap across the face.

"YOU UNGRATEFUL BOY! FIRST YOU RUN OFF WITHOUT TELLING ME, WORRYING ME TO DEATH AGAIN! THEN YOU END UP IN A FIGHT THAT DESTROYS PART OF TOWN AND ENDANGERS OTHER PEOPLE! AND THEN YOU HAVE THE GALL TO TRY AND BLAME SOMEONE ELSE FOR YOUR MISTAKES!"

Lucas was dumbstruck and his new companions were in awe.

Jessily took a deep breath out.

"Now, you are going to apologize to these boys,"

"Okay." Lucas mumbled.

"And as an extra measure, you're going to help them clean up the mess you all made."

"Oka- WHAT!?"

"You heard me!"

"But-but, why?"

"Because you are a spoiled brat who needs to do some honest work in your life instead of using money to solve all your problems! In fact, I'm going to revoke your access to the family loan until you've properly made up for your behavior. Do I make myself clear?"

"You don't have enough authority to-"

"DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR!?"

Lucas looked down for a moment, then nodded.

Hilbert whispered to Brendan; "Geez, with how she's treating him, you'd think she's his mom or something."

"That's because I am." Jessily responded.

"HUH?" Brendan and Hilbert said in unison.

"So that's why you have such sharp ears." Kukui said jokingly.

"I thought you were his assistant or butler or something! I mean, you have a suit, a tie, glasses, everything!" Hilbert said in confusion.

"I'm his caretaker. What made you think I was a butler?"

"But I thought… wait a minute!"

…

...What? What are looking at me for? How was I supposed to know that was his mom and not his butler?

"I'm just going to pretend I didn't just hear that BS and move on, k?"

Fine, suit yourself.

Olivia then walked up. "Alright, now that that's settled," she pointed to the beach. "You boys are going to clean that beach,"

"Okay."

"for 30 days."

"30!?" the three said in unison.

"It was just one battle! Why do we have to work for a whole month!" Lucas asked.

"You did cause a couple hundred dollars in property damage, and since none of you can pay that fee, you'll pay it off in community service." Kukui explained.

"But what do we do when the beach is clean!?" Hilbert asked.

"You'll help at the Pokemon School of course!" Kukui answered.

"WHAAAAAAT!?"

"Lunchroom, general maintenance, janitorial duty, you know, the basics! Come on, you three! Look on the bright side! You get to spend thirty whole days in the Alola region getting to know the place and the locals!"

"That now hate us." Hilbert added.

"Yep." Kukui agreed.

Olivia then added the final punch. "And to make sure nothing like this ever happens again…Mohn? Come here please!"

"Mohn?" the three asked.

A big man with a massive beach hat walked out of the check-in area.

"Boys, this is Mohn. He's the keeper of the Pokemon Pelego Islands. Say hi."

"Hi."

"Nice to meet you!" Mohn said with a dorky grin.

"Until you boys are done with your work, your Pokemon will stay at the Pelego for a vacation!"

Hilbert and Lucas fell over in shock. Jessily grabbed Lucas and stood him up.

"Okay cool." Brendan said obliviously.

"Brendan, do you even realize what that means?" Hilbert said, still on the floor.

"No, not really."

Lucas then tried to explain it to him. "Our Pokemon are going on vacation without us."

"Yeah?"

"And we'll be working!"

"Uh huh."

"Without our Pokemon!"

"Right."

Hilbert got up and smacked him across the head.

"Oh yeah-OH NO!" Brendan said, finally realizing.

"Do you think Hala hit him too many times?" Hilbert asked Lucas.

Lucas shrugged. "If that was the case, why did hitting him again work?"

Hilbert shook his head and walked up to Olivia.

He wanted to make things clear.

"So you're telling us that we're supposed to work here for 30 days without our Pokemon?

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying." Olivia clarified.

"Ah, yes. Alright. So can I ask you one more thing?"

Olivia nodded.

"ARE YOU TRYING TO TEACH US SOMETHING OR JUST SCREWING US OVER?"

"Lets call it both." Olivia responded.

"NO NO NO! I forgot to tell you guys something really, really important!" Brendan exclaimed.

"And what's that?" Kukui asked.

Brendan just ran onto the boat to get a higher ground.

"What's he doing?" Lucas asked as they all looked up at the scrambling Brendan.

At the stern of the boat which was facing the town, Brendan stood on top of the railings.

He breathed in as much air as he could.

Then screamed at the top of his lungs.

"TAPU KOKO IS MISSING!"

…

Meanwhile, at the Aether Foundation.

...

"Miss Lusamine. There has been a small change in plans." One of the officers stated.

"What is it, darling?"

"Three powerful trainers have just arrived on Melemele island after project 1-8ANU7 was deployed."

"How strong are these trainers?"

"They destroyed most of Iki town in a simple battle, ma'am."

"Hmm."

Lusamine crossed her legs.

"That does makes this plan significantly less perfect."

"Well, there is some news as to how to deal with them."

The officer handed her his clipboard.

She read through it.

She cracked a wicked smile.

"Mmm, so we shall fix this imperfection soon," She got up from her chair.

…

"By attacking the Poke Pelego!"

NEXT TIME: Dreams That Never Come True


	8. Dreams that never come true

"Hey, guys!" Brendan called out through the computer screen.

Their Pokemon all called back. They were transmitting a their conversation through the PC. There were computers and chairs lined up for people to talk to their family or Pokemon on the Pelego.

"Hope you're havin a good time!" he said.

"A better time than we'll be having." Lucas added. "Thanks to the Idiot Trash over here."

"Shut up, Crap-Basket."

"Oh, please. You two are like an old married couple." Hilbert intergected.

"Shut up." the other two boys said together.

"Hey, it was the little mix-up you two had that got us into this." Hilbert pointed.

"NO IT WASN"T! IT WAS HIM!" the two boys said pointing at eachother.

"Fine, fine." Hilbert surrendered. He scooted closer to the computer screen. "Speaking of mix-ups, hey Bisharp!"

The Sword Blade Pokemon walked forward to the screen.

"Whose hat is this? I thought I gave you mine." Hilbert held up the bright red cap.

Bisharp shrugged its shoulders.

"Hmm." Hilbert looked at the hat, trying to figure this mystery out.

"Maybe Luna has it?" Brendan suggested.

"The girl with Hala?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah." said Brendan, "She did have your bag and all."

"Maybe," replied Hilbert, "I'll have to ask her about it later, though I'm pretty sure I had it when I got up." He then put the hat in his bag.

"Speaking of Luna," Lucas continued, "what were you saying earlier about something being weird about her?"

"Well," Hilbert replied. "It's a little hard to explain. She said that she helped me after I fell from the-" He paused to consider, "-tree.

"So?" Brendan asked.

"I was pretty banged up from that fall. I had a lot of cuts and bruises, as well as some broken ribs. not to mention the mental fatigue I had afterwards."

"You said you fell from a tree." Lucas said.

"It was a big tree." Hilbert replied.

"Either way, the cuts I had were gone, but I didn't have any bandages. My bruises? All gone. Even my broken ribs were fixed the second I woke up."

"Maybe you just slept longer than you thought?" Brendan suggested.

"Eh, I don't think so," Lucas said, "scars and bruises can heal pretty quickly, but broken ribs? Those take a long time no matter what you do. Maybe you just dreamed it."

"But that doesn't explain my clothes or my Pokemon bag being torn up and changed." Hilbert tapped his foot to the ground, trying to come up with answers.

"Well my Pokemon were fine at the time." Hilbert pointed out. "Hey guys what do you th- and they're gone."

The Pokemon had left the conversation to go play.

"Well, I can't blame them," said Brendan, "it does look pretty fun there."

The three boys agreed that the Poke Pelego looked very enticing. The sunny beaches, the lax tone, the hundreds of Pokemon, both caught and wild. It seemed like a paradise for everyone. They then remembered that they were in reality and grabbed their mops and headed to the streets.

CHAPTER 3: DREAMS THAT NEVER COME TRUE

The three boys walked out of the PokeCenter and were greeted by Kukui.

"Hey boys! I hope you had enough Rest, without too much Sleep Talk!"

The boys moaned at the Professor's puns. They had learned of Kukui's role as both a professor of Pokemon moves, as well as a teacher for young kids the Pokemon School. And both of those professions really showed with his sense of humour. He had only known the boys for about 15 hours now and they were already sick to death of his play on words.

"Today, you'll be working on the roads around the beach that were covered in mud. Take note of my house over there." He pointed to a large house by the shore. "That's the halfway point. Loop around the island from there and you'll be done."

"The whole island!?" Hilbert and Lucas exclaimed.

"Yep." Kukui confirmed.

"What? That doesn't sound that bad." Brendan said, looking back at his co workers.

"Maybe to a raging pseudo-human like you. But for us normal people, that's kind of a big job!" Hilbert said.

"Yeah!" Lucas agreed.

"Oh stop being wimps and get moving already so we can finish quicker!" Brendan replied.

"Fine." The wimps mumbled.

The three boys started washing off the mud in the streets Iki town. They also had to clean off any reachable landmarks of all the grime. One time, Brendan accidently slapped Lucas across the face with his mop, which very quickly prompted a mop fight. They were then scolded by the locals. As they were mopping the area, they noticed people still abuzz about the news that Brendan had revealed the previous day.

"Is it true that Tapu Koko is really missing?"

"Yeah, apparently it hasn't been showing up any of the ceremonies and its shrine has been empty for a while."

"Okay, but I don't see how that shows he's missing."

The boys started conversing about it themselves.

"I personally don't get it." Lucas said, skeptically. "Tapu Koko is a rare Pokemon, right? Just because it hasn't shown itself in a while doesn't mean it's missing."

"Yeah, and isn't this Tapu Cocoa a real prankster? How do we know this isn't one of its jokes?" Hilbert added. They both looked at Brendan.

"I guess you'd be right," Brendan replied. "If you knew the whole story."

The two looked up from their mops and listened in closely.

Brendan kept looking down at his mop.

"I told this to old man Hala and that weird teacher guy. They said not to tell this to anyone because they'd panic, but…" He took a deep breath before he continued. He also stayed close to his companions so he could speak quietly.

"I was going to the shrine normally after Hala told me about it." His tone was now dead serious.

"When I got into the shrine, I walked up the stairs like Hala told me too." His mop started shaking.

What? Hilbert and Lucas thought. What the heck can be so messed up that even scares this masochistic idiot?

"You know those things Tapu Koko has on its arms? You know the things that, when it puts 'em together it looks kinda like a chicken head?"

"Yeah," Lucas said. "but Brendan, I'm pretty sure those are its arms, or at least part of them."

Brendan's broom dropped to the ground. He had stopped dead in his tracks.

"Hey, Brendan! Whats-" Hilbert was stopped as he turned to his friend's face.

His eyes were bloodshot. His face was filled with absolute horror.

"B-Brendan?"

He started to speak.

"So, d-do you mean th-that's just like his arm?" He asked. He was staring at his own arm.

"Yeah, so?" Lucas asked.

Hilbert understood immediately. He grabbed both Brendan and Lucas and dragged them behind a building.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Lucas asked as was pushed against the wall. Hilbert shushed him.

"I saw it." Brendan said, still trembling.

"Saw what? What are talking about-" Lucas asked as Hilbert shushed him again.

"His arm." Brendan answered. He was still staring at his wrist. "Tapu Koko's arm. It was just lying there. It was just lying there!" It was-"

"Keep quiet!" Hilbert said as he tried to calm Brendan down.

In realization, Lucas slumped himself against the wall.

"No, it-it can't be. Pokemon's limbs aren't supposed to fall off unless its like a Slowpokes Tail or Arbok's Tail, it-it, Tapu Koko's shields aren't supposed to-"

"Would the both of you be quiet!" Hilbert yelled in the most whispery voice he could muster. "The idea is to not send the entire region into a panic, right? So stay quiet or else-"

"Or else what?" Luna asked, two feet away from Hilbert, causing him to fall over.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!?" he screamed, probably getting the attention of the entire block.

"I heard someone making this weird shouty-whispery voice from behind this building."

"Oh." Hilbert said, realizing his mistake.

"You- you didn't happen to hear what we were talking about, did you?" He asked.

"No, not really, I think." the ditzy girl replied.

"Oh thank Arceus!" Hilbert breathed a sigh of relief, but then followed with a question. "Wait, what do mean by "I think"?"

"Well, did you mean the stuff you were talking about earlier or the stuff you were just talking about with how Tapu Koko's arm got cu-"

Hilbert quickly covered her mouth with his lips. "Okay, okay, you heard exactly what we didn't want you to hear! I get it! Now shush!"

"Mrmr mrmrrr! (Okee-dokee!)" Luna said with her mouth covered.

"Eww." Hilbert exclaimed as he wiped his hand on his beach vest.

"Hey, she got that for you!" Brendan said, standing right next to them.

"I don't care! It's still- Brendan?" Hilbert blurted out in confusion.

"She went through all the trouble of giving you new clothes and you wipe spit on it like it's trash."

"You two recovered awfully quickly!" Hilbert said in surprise.

"Hey, we were shocked, that's all." Lucas explained.

"Yeah, stop treating us like little kids!" Brendan added.

"I uh," Hilbert stood there, dumbfounded and, probably suffering from whiplash.

"The whole deal about Tapu Koko is tough to take, but it's not our issue." Lucas said.

"Yeah, and since old man Hala's on it, you know we'll find Tapu Koko soon and patch him up!" Brendan added.

"Yeah! Hala… right." Luna agreed in passing.

"Um, okay then, I guess." Hilbert said, still a little confused.

These guys are weird!

The three walked out from behind the building and were greeted by the bright sun.

"Well, I guess we'll just have to put it out of our minds for now." Hilbert said. "See you, Luna. Make sure you don't tel- and she's gone."

The girl had disappeared somewhere off in the distance.

"Ah, come on! I'm sure there's nothing to worry about." Brendan said as he started running down the path. "Come on, guys! Lets finish this before sunset, yeah?"

"Fine." the two wimps mumbled. As they ran, they were still wondering about Brendan. Was he really alright? They couldn't tell. But they decided to leave it at that. They knew better than to pry into subjects that made people react like that.

The three boys then started running down to Professor Kukui's house, where they would soon meet the person that they would lead to change the world forever.

If that's not cliche foreshadowing, I don't know what is.

The three boys got to the beach and started to walk by Kukui's house when they heard a very familiar sound.

The sound of Pokemon Training.

They rushed over to the beach to see who was training. There was a young boy with a blue striped shirt and jet black hair, yelling commands at a Rockruff and Pikachu.

"Rockruff, use Rock Throw! And Pikachu deflect it with Iron Tail!"

The two Pokemon obeyed. The Rockruff bobbed its head to throw pointed rocks at the Pikachu, who's tail started to glow with a sharp, white aura. It then started to flail its tail to deflect the rocks into several directions, hitting the sand and other rocks in the area.

The three older trainers walked over, amused.

"Not bad, kid." Hilbert said.

The boy looked over to where the voice came from. When he saw who it was, he gasped in excitement.

"Woah! Awesome! You guys are the trainers who battled on the beach yesterday, right?" His Pikachu hopped onto his shoulder with just as much excitement in its eyes.

"Well would you look at that!" Hilbert said jokingly "at least not the entire island hates our guts, eh?"

Lucas and Brendan chuckled in agreement.

"You guys were so awesome!" The young boy exclaimed, fanboying. "The way your Samurott jumped into the air and threw his swords was soooo cool!"

"Hah! You got some good eyes kid!" Hilbert said, enjoying the attention, much to the disdain of his two rivals.

"Where is Samurott, anyway?"

The three trainers groaned and dropped to the floor, dramatically.

"Um, sorry. Did I say something wrong?"

"No, nothing." Brendan said with a deep groan.

"It's just," Lucas answered, "because our battle was so destructive, thanks to that Idiot Trash over there,-"

"Shut up, Crap-Basket!"

"-our Pokemon were taken away from us to make sure we didn't cause any more damage."

"Oh, sorry about that." The boy said.

"No need, kid, we made a mistake and we're paying for it." Hilbert said while he got up. "By the way, what's your name?"

"My name's Ash!" The boy said excitedly.

"Say Ash," Brendan suggested as he also got up, "We noticed you doing some training over here. Mind if we give you some pointers?"

"Sure! That'd be awesome!"

The training then continued, only now with the guidance of the three older, more experienced trainers.

"Hmm," Lucas watched Pikachu using its Iron Tail.

"Something up?" Ash asked.

"That Iron Tail of yours could use some work." Lucas replied. He walked over to clarify.

"The power's there in spades, but the precision is all wonky."

"The precision?"

"When Pikachu uses Iron Tail, does it aim to keep its tail pointed?"

"Pointed?"

"When it's tail is pointed so that the flat side is level and perpendicular to the surface it's hitting- you know what perpendicular means, right?"

"Yeah."

"When the tail's perpendicular the the surface it's hitting, the power is maximized because it's all going to one point."

"Like this," Brendan went over and picked up Pikachu's tail.

"Pi?"

He held it up to his hand and put the thin side against his hand.

Ash was surprised, but intrigued. He listened to the older trainer.

"Always point your tail. The less hitting the target, the more power there'll be." He said.

"Of course, only when the target is actual Pokemon." Hilbert intergected.

"You, see, Iron Tail is a good attacking move, but it's used at its best when deflecting projectile attacks like that Rock Throw you used earlier."

Ash looked over at Hilbert who walked up to Pikachu.

"The best result is when it's used to knock any projectile attacks straight back at the opponent. That can be really useful for when you're facing an opponent who is immune to your regular attacks or that you can't hit using normal means. But when you were attacking before, Pikachu was just sending the rocks flying in random directions."

"Here," Brendan gave an example.

"When deflecting attacks, you should have Pikachu hold its tail vertical to the attack, like this." He held his fist flat against Pikachu's tail.

The three all stood up.

"So to recap…"

"When attacking, point your tail horizontally." Brendan said.

"When defending, keep your tail vertical." Lucas said.

"And while defending from projectile attacks, aim them right back at your opponent." Hilbert said.

"Woah," Ash said, holding his head. "That's a lot to take in at once."

"Don't worry, zzt! I recorded it all for later!" The Rotom Dex said.

"Well ain't that helpf- WHAT THE HECK IT THAT!?" Hilbert screamed.

Hilbert and Brendan fell over in shock.

"I'm the Rotom Dex!" The Rotom Dex said.

"Wow, that's incredible!" Lucas said studying the floating Pokedex. "Are you the latest model?"

"You bet I am!" the dex said with a grin on its screen.

"Okay," Hilbert said from the ground. "Floating, sentient Pokedex. That's… a thing now, I guess."

The four trainers sat for a while and watch the sun go down.

"I thought you wanted to finish by now. You're not tired, are you?" Lucas teased Brendan.

"AAH, shut up Crap-Basket! We're basically finished!"

"Sure…" Lucas said, sarcastically.

"So Ash," Hilbert asked. "You're at the Pokemon School right?"

"Yep"

"And you live here with Professor Kukui while you're here in Alola, right?

"Yep"

"So, is there anything you want to do after you go to this school?"

"Why do you want to know?" Lucas asked. interjecting.

"I dunno!" Hilbert replied. "...reasons."

"Well, after I graduate from the Pokemon school, I'll be one step closer to becoming a Pokemon Master!"

"A Pokemon -what?"

...

"A Pokemon Master! Why? Is…that… bad?

"Well yeah, sort of. Pokemon Masters don't exist."

...

"Wh-what are you talking about?"

"What I'm talking about is that

There

Is

No

Such

Thing

As

A

Pokemon

Master."

...

Ash ran away in tears.

His Pikachu fast on his tail and his Rockruff trailing behind.

Brendan and Lucas were dumbstruck.

Brendan got up and grabbed Hilbert by the collar.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!? YOU JUST CRUSHED THE POOR KIDS DREAMS!"

Lucas looked on in the direction Ash ran.

"You-"

He clenched his fists.

"Normally when you act like a jack-ass, I can somewhat understand your logic, but this... this…

WHAT IS THIS!?"

...

"You gonna let me down or what?" Hilbert said, his expression unchanged.

With massive amounts of regret, Brendan loosened his grip.

"Thanks." Hilbert said. He started walking away.

"What? That's it!? YOU'RE JUST GONNA WALK AWAY?! Brendan screamed.

Hilbert stopped.

He looked at the sky.

 ** _"Chasing dreams that will never come true is pointless."_**

"Wha-"

He kept walking.

He wouldn't have stopped again if Kukui didn't arrive with urgent news.

He was panting.

"Sorry guys, but…"

Hilbert looked at him, Brendan and Lucas were still fixated on the teenage trainer they had battled with at one time.

"I'm sorry, but…

...Your Pokemon have gone missing.

NEXT TIME: P.R


	9. PR

CHAPTER 4: P R

"WHAT DO MEAN THEY'RE MISSING!?" Brendan asked as he ran alongside Lucas and Hilbert, following Kukui.

"You'll understand when we get there." The professor replied.

The four of them ran as fast as they could towards the Pokemon Center. The three trainers rushed inside before Kukui.

"Where are they!?" Lucas asked. He then ran over to the PC with Brendan. They turned it on and tried to contact their Pokemon.

There was nothing but static.

Hilbert and Kukui ran in. Hilbert was still silent, which made Kukui wonder what happened between him and Ash. He had seen Ash run off, but didn't see the conversation leading to it. What happened?

But he had to shove that thought out of his mind as he went over to calm the other boys down.

"Guys, please settle down and let me explain."

The three boys obeyed and sat down, Brendan and Lucas begrudgingly so.

Kukui stayed standing and took a deep sigh.

"There was an… incident at the Pelago." Kukui explained.

"An incident?" Lucas asked.

"You see," Kukui kept looking down at his shoes. How was he going to explain this?

"It's… difficult for me to tell you this but-"

"Tell us already!" Brendan said with worried anticipation.

Kukui sighed. "The Pokemon Pelego Islands were all attacked last night. We have not been able to contact them since early this morning."

All three of the boy's eyes were absolutely stricken with horror. Brendan got up and confronted Kukui. Lucas stared at the floor intensely. Hilbert leaned back in his chair and looked at the ceiling.

"W- wh- what are you talking about?" Brendan asked through stumbling his words. He was barely staying on his feet.

"At-tacked?" Lucas said, looking up from the floor. "You said it was... attacked? You-d... you" He could barely speak through his rage.

He then exploded. "YOU SERIOUSLY TOOK OUR POKEMON TO A PLACE THAT COULD BE ATTACKED!? WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH YOU!?" Lucas screamed, getting the attention of the entire center.

Both trainers were up in Kukui's face, asking questions, calling demands, and Kukui couldn't answer any of them, which only made them angrier and more confused.

...

But Hilbert knew why. He figured it out. His eyes shifted from horror to angered understanding.

He knew why they had sent their Pokemon to a place of low security without telling it was as much. He even understood why Kukui wasn't saying anything else. He understood perfectly.

"Shut it you two." He said, interrupting their enraged conversation.

"OH, I DO NOT WANT TO HEAR IT FROM YOU!" Brendan shot down Hilbert's request. He then continued to shout his complaints with Hilbert, personally.

Lucas also starred at Hilbert in frustration. But the logical side of his brain stepped in and reminded him of who Hilbert was.

A smart person.

In their battle, Hilbert was the only one who kept his cool the entire match. While Lucas kept worrying about small things like damages to both his Pokemon and the area, Hilbert was chill about it. Apathetic, even. He was always coming up with new strategies on the fly, while always keeping his victory as his main priority.

" _That's because Hilbert is smart"_ he thought. " _Not in an academic way, like me, but smart about the world. He knows how the world really is. How it works."_

Lucas knew that if anyone knew the reasoning behind this situation, it would be Hilbert.

Lucas walked over and pulled Brendan away.

"Hey! What are you-"

"Just watch." Lucas said.

"Huh, thanks." Hilbert said. "Now, where was I?" He got up from the chair and walked over to Kukui. He stared at the professor, giving him a "I know exactly what you're trying to pull" face. He chuckled.

He then looked over at Lucas and Brendan. Brendan had his arms crossed and his face in a constant scowl. Lucas was simply waiting for Hilbert to explain what he knew.

So Hilbert began to unravel some of the darkest secrets the Pokemon world had to hide.

"Have you guys ever heard of the PR act?" he asked them. They both shook their heads. Brendan started to look more intrigued. Kukui looked shocked.

"Okay. First then, how old are you guys?" the trainer asked. He also had the attention of the entire center due to the earlier yelling.

"Sixteen." They both said.

"Huh, me too." Hilbert said with a smile.

"Well? Get to the point already!" Lucas said, losing patience.

"Alright, alright." Hilbert said. "The PR act. You ever heard of when the Champion's League doing an act of PR?" He said, now speaking to everyone in the center.

The entire crowd nodded.

Kukui whispered in Hilbert's ear. "While I won't ask how you know all of this, do really think it's a good idea to tell all these people?"

"Heh, it's not like they're gonna believe me." He responded.

Kukui saw his point. The entire town thought he was a scumbag, and his attitude when cleaning the island didn't help that reputation. Still, Kukui worried about what putting this info into people's heads could cause.

"Well, when they say 'PR', they actually mean a lot of things, not just 'Protection Rights'. They also mean 'Power Removal' or, in this case, "Pokemon Removal."

The entire crowd gasped. Conversation started brewing.

Lucas was shocked, but Brendan was still confused.

"For those who haven't got it, basically when the Champions League sees a person without an adult's trainers licence, which means they're either criminals or people under 18, wielding Pokemon that are 'too strong', they can have that person and their Pokemon taken into custody!"

Hilbert now had the crowd listening to every word that came out of his mouth.

"This is why teenagers hardly ever compete in Pokemon Leagues! They wait until they get their licence so they won't be sent to the slammers! But not a lot of people know about these laws until they get scolded by the Champions League themselves! Why? Because those licences are more than just fancy tickets! They actually prevent trainers from taking part in Gym matches! So these PR acts, under a sheet of 'Oh, we're just doing what's best for your Pokemon!' basically make it impossible for teenagers like me and my freinds here to be real Pokemon Trainers anymore! And I really don't think that would go over very well if it got to the public, not that they could do anything."

Hilbert stopped to take a breather. He had unintentionally gone from speaking to yelling without realizing. He looked up to see the entire audience he had made for himself look back in mortification. Lucas and Brendan looked especially traumatized.

They felt like reality had hit them like a fire truck. Their days as Pokémon Trainers were numbered.

But almost more than that was the person giving them this info. The two thought they knew Hilbert, but after today, they wondered exactly who he was, really.

"LIAR!" A man in the crowd yelled. "Do you really expect us to believe that the Champions League would actually attack the Pelego!?"

"Shut up, you self-centered twat, I'm not done yet!" Hilbert responded.

"No, I don't think that those posers had anything to do with the attack. I honestly don't know who did it."

"Well then why-"

"I'm sorry, but this conversation is about why OUR Pokémon got taken away, specifically, not some rant against the Champions League. Though, I guess I did make a good enough rant anyway, considering." Hilbert stared down the man who'd interrupted him.

He then continued.

"You see, Alola's interesting because it's a fairly new region without a certified League. This means that they don't necessarily have to follow the laws that the other regions do yet. They can be tweaked a little. That's where Ms. Hotpants and the Professor over here come into play."

He pointed at Kukui.

"You two saw that our Pokémon were dangerous to your region, but instead of taking them away and putting us in a prison cell, you decided to just send them away momentarily as we cleaned up our own mess."

Kukui looked impressed, yet worried at the same time. "Yeah, you got us. I'm still not sure how you knew all of that stuff in the first place, though."

"I've got some very friendly sources." Hilbert replied. "Honestly, it was the best plan, keep the Champion's League out of your hair while helping us to keep our Pokémon. Would've worked perfectly if the place wasn't attacked."

The entire crowd was still just standing there, waiting for more.

Hilbert turned to them and shouted, "Oh, NOW you want to listen to me! Get out of here! It's passed 11:00!"

The crowd realized the time and started draining out of the centre, all of them looking shaken up by what they had just heard.

Hilbert then turned back to Lucas and Brendan, the latter of whom looked like his head was smoking from the amount of info he had just received and was trying to retain.

"So, to sum it up, our Pokémon are still gone because they sent them away, it just wasn't their fault, they had to send them away." Lucas said, trying to make things easier for Brendan. "What exactly did you prove with all that other nonsense?"

"That I'm smart." Hilbert said.

"You're not that smart, you just knew more specific facts then we did."

"Isn't that what being smart means?"

…

"Touché." Lucas said.

"Stop speaking Spanish already!" Brendan exclaimed.

The three started laughing. Just like that, their friendship had been fixed. Lucas wondered about this.

 _Hilbert's not different than we expected, he just has more layers to him than we anticipated._

He also noticed that Brendan didn't seem to resent Hilbert anymore, at least not as much as before.

 _If an idiot like that can forgive a guy like him, I can too._

"So, we're gonna work together to find our Pokémon, right?" Brendan asked.

The other two nodded and chuckled some more.

"So, professor." Hilbert turned back to Kukui with his two new friends at his side. "You willing to help some trainers find their Pokémon by giving them some starters to start off with?" He asked, sarcastically. Of course he would. That's how these stories go, right?

"Nope. Sorry."

"HUH?!" The three boys said in unison.

"You kidding me? I'm on a teacher's salary!" He explained. "I can barely afford to give you each one Pokeball to start with, much less three starters. Those are expensive, and I'm already taking care of Ash on top of it."

The three boys sighed in unison.

"Oh, that reminds me!" Brendan said, turning to Hilbert. "You still need to apologize to that Ash kid!"

"No." Hilbert replied.

"What! Why?!"

"I'm not apologizing for saying something that's true. That kid needs to learn how the real world works before he can really become strong!"

"Well, at least help him!"

"No! You help him!"

"I've got it!" Lucas said. "Why don't we help him together!" He said, condescendingly.

…

"Fine." They said in unison.

And with that, the three trainers now had their goal:

Rescue their Pokémon from whatever terrible fate they were in, and help a random kid they just met not two hours ago achieve a lifelong dream that could take years and years to achieve.

…

They weren't exactly the best long-term planners.

NEXT TIME: Bravery


	10. Bravery

The three boys looked at the resources that were available to them.

-A Pokeball each.

-50 Pokedollars (Which was like 50 cents)

-Brendan's old rod

-An old book Lucas owned.

-And an Everstone Hilbert found.

"Wait, when did that happen?"

Uh… in your clean up session.

"You forgot to add it in, didn't you?"

No I didn't!

"You see, I feel like you're trying to say something, but all I hear is BS."

Shut up, Hilbert.

"Fine."

"Who are you talking to?" Brendan asked.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh… no one…?" Hilbert replied. "Its nothing, let's just pay attention."

The three boys looked at their options.

"Didn't you have like, a bag of Pokeballs before?" Hilbert asked Lucas.

"Yeah, what about them?"

"Wouldn't that make this a whole lot easier?"

"Yeah, if I didn't already use the rest of them."

"What!? When?"

"During our clean up session."

…

Hey, don't look at me like that!

"Anyway, basically if we can catch at least one Pokemon,-" Lucas was cut off by Brendan.

"And didn't you have, like a gazillion Pokemon in your PC?" He asked.

"I had 524 of them, yes." Lucas said, annoyed, "But the Pelego takes Pokemon from your PC, so they're all gone now!"

"Oh, sorry." Brendan apologized.

Lucas continued. "Like I was saying, if we can catch at least one Pokemon, we can train it, then use it to win battles for money so that we can catch more."

"Sounds good." Brendan and Hilbert agreed in unison.

"So, we'll all go for one Pokemon for the three of us. That way, we can use all the Pokeballs to have more of a chance to catch it."

"Nope." Brendan and HIlbert disagreed in unison.

"Great, so- wait, WHY NOT!?" Lucas asked in absolute confusion.

"If we only catch one Pokemon, you're gonna hog it and train it yourself!" Hilbert said. "Then while you're going off another journey, we'll be stuck with the chores!"

"Yeah!" Brendan agreed, "We should each get one Pokeball! That way we all get one chance!"

"Instead… of… three?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah! Great right?"

Lucas face palmed.

"How about we sell this old book for a Pokeball or two?" Hilbert suggested as he picked up Lucas's old book, which Lucas quickly snatched back.

"NO! This book is off limits!"

"And why's that?" Hilbert asked.

"First off, this book is worth way more than two Pokeballs! Secondly it's priceless!" Lucas explained, caressing the old, tattered book.

"But that doesn't make sense." Hilbert argued.

"Huh?"

"If something is priceless, then how is it worth anything?"

"That's not what priceless means, you idiot!"

"I've got an idea!" Brendan said.

The other two stopped arguing momentarily to listen to Brendan's suggestion.

"So we need money for more Pokeballs right?"

The two nodded.

"So howabout we sell one these Pokeballs?"

The other two trainers stared at him for a couple of seconds.

"So…" Hilbert started, "you're suggesting that we sell a Pokeball…"

"Yeah!"

"For

...a

…Pokeball?"

"Yeah!"

…

Lucas face palmed again.

"Brendan," he said "the sheer amount of pure idiot that exudes from that completely rotted thing you call a brain on a moment to moment basis is honestly unbelievable."

"Thank you!"

"That wasn't a compliment you freakin moron!"

"Hey, would you two lovebirds quiet down, I'm tryin to focus." Hilbert said, doing everything in his power to not be focused.

"RRNNNNNNNNGHHHFFFF-" Lucas grunted in anger.

"Huh, fine." He submitted defeat. "We'll each take one Pokeball. But if we don't catch anything, I'm blaming you two idiots.

"Alright!"

CHAPTER 5: BRAVERY

They each grabbed one of the Pokeballs and stepped out of the center to start going on their hunt, but were stopped by a familiar burly figure and his Haryama.

"Hey, its Old Man Hala!" Brendan exclaimed, relieved to see the Kahuna doing well. "You alright Old Man? You were coughing up blood the last time we saw you."

He was thanked for his caring gesture with a knock to the head by the fighting Kahuna.

"Owww." Brendan exclaimed in pain "I'm glad that you're feeling better, but what was that for?"

"IDIOT CHILD!" Hala yelled. He was about to yell again but saw that there were people around, so he leaned in to Brendan and whispered.

"You told Luna and your companions here of Tapu Koko's… condition?"

"Yeah," Brendan whispered back. "But I trust them, and I didn't tell anyone else."

"Hmm," Hala looked over at Lucas and Hilbert.

"Fine." He said.

Lucas and Hilbert walked over to them.

"Sup, Hala! How be those internal organs hangin?" Hilbert asked, cheerfully.

"Quite well now, actually. Thanks to that young girl Luna." Hala replied.

"Well that's good." Lucas said. "We were just on our way to catch some new Pokemon-"

Hala knocked all three of them over the head, causing them to fall to the floor.

"What now?" Hilbert exclaimed.

"YOU FOOLS!" he screamed. "I understand that you had your Pokemon taken away, but you still have a responsibility to the island!" He crossed his arms and looked down upon them. "You may search once you've cleaned Melemele."

"WHAT?" The three said in unison.

Hala just scoffed and walked away.

The boys sighed and walked down to the beach.

"Great, now how are we supposed to find our Pokemon?" Hilbert asked.

The three of them stood around for a few minutes, trying to come up with ideas.

Then one popped into Lucas's head.

"I've got it!" Lucas exclaimed suddenly.

The other two boys looked at him with open ears.

"We're experienced trainers, right? We don't all have to be there to catch the Pokemon, only one of us can go. And while that person is looking for the Pokemon, the other two can cover for him!"

Hilbert and Brendan looked at each other, then at Lucas, impressed.

"That sounds great!" Brendan said, "Who'll be first?"

…

Hala walked back to the area the boys were cleaning. Hilbert was working along the street, while Brendan was next to the Pokemon Center. Hala grinned at their honesty and hard working.

"Good work so far, boys! You'll be finished in no time!" He cheered.

Hilbert sighed, tiredly. "'Sigh', you say that like its only gonna take a few more days." He said.

"Come, on. It's not that bad! Look at Brendan! That boy's got enough energy... for… the three of… you?" Hala said as he looked over in Brendan's direction. He was wheezing while using his broom to support his weight.

"Is… there something bothering Brendan?" Hala asked.

As Hilbert realized that the Kahuna noticed, he quickly moved to assure him. "Oh, it's just, the news yesterday got him pretty hard and he didn't get much sleep last night!" Hilbert said, slightly nervously.

"Hmm, " Hala pondered.

 _Oh no, did he figure us out already!?_ Hilbert thought.

"That makes sense."

He thought wrong.

"But where is that Lucas boy?" Hala then asked, "He isn't slacking off, is he?"

"Ah… no!" Hilbert assured, "He's just cleaning behind the Center!"

Hilbert gave his friend the signal.

"Brendan" saw the signal and walked behind the Pokemon Center. After a moment, Lucas appeared from behind the center.

"See? There he is!" Hilbert tried to convince the Kahuna.

Hala looked over at Lucas. While he was still sick, he could see that Lucas was also tired.

"Hmm," Hala considered the three boys. But before he could decipher anything, he felt a sharp pain in his stomach.

"Hrrg!" Hala said in pain.

"Woah! You alright?" Hilbert asked the ill Kahuna.

"I'm fine," he said, limping away to his house. "I'll just be on my way then. Stay strong boys!" He looked over at Lucas.

"And Brendan!" Hala called out.

Lucas quickly went behind the Pokemon Center as Brendan came out from behind it.

"Be a strong leader, alright?" He called out.

"Brendan" looked on for a moment. "Brendan" waved back to show his understanding. Hala then walked off.

Hilbert walked over to his companion.

"So 'Brendan', how's the cleaning going?" He asked, jokingly.

"Ha ha, very funny." Lucas said, taking off the white hat. "Remind me again why I had to wear the disguise?"

"Because it's funny and I can do this;" Hilbert took a snapshot with Lucas's phone.

"Wait," Lucas realized his predicament, "Hey! Give that back!"

"Not until I make this your wallpaper!" Hilbert said as he tapped away, trying to enter the correct passcode.

"No!" Lucas and Hilbert struggled as they both tried to get the phone, "Stop! You're gonna lock it you idiot!"

Hilbert laughed as he kept the phone out of Lucas's reach. The two struggled humorously until they remembered why Lucas was disguised in the first place.

"Wonder how Brendan's doing."

...

Brendan trudged through the forest, grunting and mumbling. He was stripped down to his undershirt and boxers for Lucas to use his overcoat and pants as a disguise. Even his hat was taken. All he had was one of the Pokeballs and his old rod.

As he walked through the densely wooded area, he looked for any Pokemon that seemed weak enough to catch, yet strong enough to become a worthy member of his team. While he hated the idea of judging a Pokemon's strength from appearances alone, he didn't have much other choice unless he wanted to fight them himself, which he could do, he just wasn't one to fight people without a good purpose.

While he was mulling those facts over, a Rockruff jumped from the bush on his right and ran ahead.

"Oh, no ya don't!" Brendan followed it through the forest.

After a while of chasing, the two ended up on a stone riverbank. There was a calm swamp next to it.

"Woah." Brendan exclaimed as he forgot about the Rockruff and observed this new local.

He walked over to the swamp and looked closely at the surface of the water. He then slowly dipped his finger in.

"What are you doing?" A calm, gentle voice asked.

"Huh? Who said that?" Brendan looked around for the owner of the voice.

"I did, I'm right here." the small girl said. She was literally two feet away from him.

"Oh, sorry." Brendan chuckled, "You're so quiet I barely noticed you!"

He took a quick look at the girl. She had a fishing rod dipped in the swamp and a matching fishing hat. Her hair was visible under the hat, showing that it was ocean blue in colour. She was small, to Brendan she looked barely 8 years old. She wore a white shirt and some ocean-patterned pants that got wider as they got to her sandaled feet.

Brendan then noticed something move behind her.

A Popplio was playing with a bubble and bouncing around.

"Aww, hey there little guy!" Brendan beckoned the Popplio over with his hand. The Popplio obeyed the trainer as it flopped over to him. He crouched down and petted the Sea Lion Pokemon, which it seemed to enjoy as it barked happily.

"What's your name?" Brendan asked, looking back up at the fishing girl.

"Lana," She answered in her gentle voice, "and this is Popplio." The Popplio flopped over to its trainer.

She petted it while she asked again, "What were you doing just now? You know, with the water?"

"Oh, that!" Brendan replied. He went over to the girl and explained to her.

"I was testing the temperature of the swamp. You see, depending on the temperature of the water, the amount of Pokemon that are in it and the type of Pokemon can change." He dipped his finger in the water again, "Like, if the water's cold, that means that there aren't many of them and they're all strong. And if its warm, that means there are lots of Pokemon and they're more friendly!" He took his hand out again. "That's pretty warm, so there's lots of slightly weaker, friendlier Pokemon in there."

Lana looked impressed with the boy's knowledge of water Pokemon, which seemed even more strange to her considering it looked like he only had an old rod and a single Pokeball.

"My father uses that same trick when he's fishing." She said.

"Oh," Brendan replied, "So he's an experienced fisherman, right?"

"Yeah he is!" Lana said, smiling.

"Wow! Cool!" Brendan exclaimed, "Hope I get to meet him someday!"

He then got up. "Well, its was nice meeting you, Fisher Girl-"

"Lana."

"Yeah that. It was nice to meet you, but now I'm off to find a strong Pokemon to catch!" Brendan said as he started walking along the riverbank.

He wasn't watching where he was going, though, and slipped on something, causing him to fall flat on his face.

"Are you alright?" Lana asked, running over to his aid.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I'm pretty sturdy." Brendan said, holding the side of his head.

"What did I slip on, anyway?" He asked.

"I think it might have been that." Lana pointed at the culprit. A small Dewpider was walking around. It kept leaning and almost falling over due to the weight of its water bubble, which kept spilling out.

Brendan and Lana watched as it slowly kept drunkenly stumbling around, eventually losing all of the water in its water bubble and collapsed on the ground.

…

"AAHHH!"

Brendan and Lana rushed over to the collapsed Pokemon.

"It can't survive without that water bubble, hurry!" Lana explained as Brendan picked the Pokemon up.

"Throw it in the river!" Lana said.

"Arf Arf!" Popplio said.

"Got it!" Brendan replied as he tossed the skeletal body of the Dewpider into the swamp.

The Pokemon sank a little.

Brendan and Lana watched it in anticipation.

To their relief, the Pokemon started filling up its water bubble using the water from the swamp, as if it was drinking.

Brendan, Lana, and Popplio all breathed a deep sigh of relief. The Dewpider was safe.

For now…

As Brendan and Lana were fixated on the Dewpider, they failed to realize that the swamp's water level was getting lower until it was half the volume as before.

They both gasped.

"HOW MUCH DID THAT THING DRINK?!" Brendan said, still failing to realize that the lake was being drained by the giant mechanical vacuum on the other side of the swamp.

"What's going on?" Lana asked.

It was Team Rocket!

Prepare for troub-

They did whole motto thing, yadayadayada, you get the gist.

…

Brendan was confused.

"So these guys are actors, or…?"

"No! They're Pokemon Thieves!" Lana explained.

"THEY'RE WHAT?!" Brendan exclaimed in rage.

"They're people who steal Pokemo-" Lana's explanation was cut off by Brendan.

"I know what thieves are. I'm oblivious, not stupid!"

"Well, looky what we have here." Jessie said, pointing out Brendan.

"It's a gallant knight to protect this land!" James said sarcastically.

"Well it's time to dethrone this little knight in shining armour!" Meowth said.

"WOAH! Is that Meowth talking!?" Brendan exclaimed.

"Yes I am!" The Meowth said with a smirk. "I'm the top dog among the cats!"

"Cool!" Brendan replied.

"This is no time to be gawking!" Lana scolded Brendan, "They're stealing the Pokemon!"

The vacuum was continually sucking in more water, along with Pokemon, into a massive container that looked sealed.

"This contraption will suck in all the water type Pokemon in this swamp!" James explained, "And this container will keep the Pokemon inside nice and sealed up!"

Brendan clenched his fists. "RRGGHH! Jerk!" He started to run towards the contraption, but was stopped by a purple sludge flying straight in front of him. The sludge sunk into the ground like acid.

"Good work, Mareanie!" James said as the Poison Type Pokemon he had obtained in the Alola region landed beside him. The Pokemon enjoyed the praise so much that it started to chomp on James's head.

"You should really change the hair gel you use. You've been attracting Pokemon like this for 18 years now." Jessie suggested.

Brendan tried to run at the machine again, but was this time stopped by the female Team Rocket member's voice.

"Ah-ah, you bigger twerp!" Jessie mocked, "There's no getting past us, especially without Pokemon! AhaHA! Attacking that little water-twerp here was brilliant! No other Pokemon or twerps to interfere!"

"MRR FRR! (Of course!)" James said, pulling off his Mareanie, "And now we can catch her Popplio!"

Brendan looked around for any options. While he didn't find any, he did see the Dewpider he'd helped getting sucked in by the vacuum.

Brendan then dove into the swamp.

"No!" Lana yelled out.

Brendan swam as fast as he could to the struggling Dewpider. He managed to grab it, but he was now in the vacuum's vortex.

"MMRRRFFFBBBLLBLBLBLBLBLBLGGGGGGGGGGGTGTGTGTGTGGGYGYYYYGGYYG (Oh no!)"

He was about to get his leg stuck when he felt his shirt tugging at his neck. Then, without any warning, Brendan was flung into the air along with the Dewpider. They both landed back on the river bank safely.

"Are you alright?" Lana asked, breathing heavily.

Brendan looked over at the young girl and realized.

She had pulled him out of the water with her fishing rod!

Brendan looked back at where Team Rocket was. Apparently he'd missed a bit of battling.

Lana's Popplio was facing off against the Mareanie and both looked slightly worse for wear.

"Well wasn't that anti-climatic?" The Meowth said, mockingly.

Brendan looked back at Lana. She was still tired from pulling him up, and she also looked injured.

"Ah!" She exclaimed as she felt a sharp twinge of pain.

Her Popplio looked back in worry.

"Now's our chance! Mareanie, use Sludge Bomb!" The Mareanie obeyed and launched another ball of purple acid at Popplio while it was off gaurd.

"Popiii!" Popplio said as it was knocked to the side, rolling.

"No, Popplio!" Lana cried out to her partner.

Popplio fainted.

"Now time for the catch!" Meowth yelled as he took out a net shooter.

The Pokemon pressed the button, causing the net to to launch and expand. It was heading straight for the Popplio.

"NOOO!" Lana screamed.

But before the net could wrap around the Pokemon, Brendan jumped in front of it!

The net wrapped itself around the trainer, but it did not have enough strength to pull Brendan's weight. Brendan had saved the Pokemon with his strength and quick wit!

"Heh, that's a pretty wimpy machine you got there." He said, valiantly, "Now you can't hurt Popplio!"

"Yes, but… now you're trapped." James pointed out.

Brendan struggled a little before realizing.

"Oh."

"Now, we can finally get out of this mucky place!" Jessie exclaimed with both delight and disgust.

"NO!" Brendan yelled. He was starting to break the netting, but he wasn't sure if he could make it on time.

Team Rocket was about to leave with dozens of innocent water Pokemon!

Brendan struggled with the net so much that his hands were starting to bleed.

As Team Rocket started to leave on their balloon, Lana was cradling her injured Popplio.

"Rrrgh! Come on!" Brendan exclaimed in frustration. He couldn't get out of the net. He started think about the last time he felt this helpless.

 _Why is it that everytime I need to protect someone, I'm just… just so useless!_

…

He had to give up.

…

He just had to.

…

His hands were already covered in blisters.

…

By the time he got out of the net, he would be too late to save anyone.

…

He couldn't do anything.

…

…

"Dew!"

The sound of a tiny grunt and a small thunk came from Team Rocket's machine.

"What is that?" James asked.

"I'll go check." Meowth said.

The talking cat Pokemon walked around their giant container full of Pokemon to find a Dewpider.

The Dewpider Brendan had saved.

Slowly and wobbly trying to break the container to save its friends.

"Hey!" Meowth exclaimed.

Once the Dewpider saw that it was noticed, it started moving away, wobbly.

After about thirty seconds of Team Rocket gawking at the tenacity of the extremely weak and unstable Pokémon, they remembered that they were the villains and launched an attack at it.

"Oh, uh, Mareanie, use Sludge Bomb." James said.

Mareanie obeyed and shot one of its purple balls of acid at the helpless Dewpider.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

…

…

…

Brendan had jumped in front of the Pokémon.

The toxic sludge hit him square in the face.

…

Lana was in shock.

…

Team Rocket was in shock.

"Why did you let yourself get hit by that you idiot?!" Jessie exclaimed, using frustration in the place of understanding.

Dewpider was on the ground, looking up at its saviour.

Brendan slowly turned to Dewpider.

…

"That was real brave of you." He said through pained burns and blisters.

…

"Braver than I was."

He then collapsed on the ground.

NEXT TIME: PERFECT


	11. Perfect

The entire countryside was ravaged.

Brendan looked up at the sky, but saw nothing but a dark, grey void.

He went looking for everyone.

"Hey! Guys?" He called out.

No response.

"Where are you?"

Still nothing.

Someone had to still be here, right? He couldn't be the only one left.

…

Right?

…

…

"HEY!" Brendan yelled a loud as he could.

But still nothing.

Brendan looked up at the sky again.

This time there was something there.

A long, green snake floating in the sky.

It noticed Brendan.

It started flying towards him.

It started flying faster.

And faster.

And faster.

And faster.

Until it let out a deafening whale.

"QUAAAAAZAAAAAAA!"

"AHHHH!"

…

Brendan sat straight up.

…

He was in the Pokemon center.

Lucas on his right, and the fisher girl on his left. What was her name again? He saw her Popplio on her lap.

That's right, Lana.

They both looked at him surprised, like he had just been in a coma and only now woke up.

"You were just in a coma and only now woke up!"

"Yeah!" Lana said.

"Oh," Brendan was still dazed, "sorry I worried you guys."

"The hack were you thinking?" Lucas scolded, "Lana here told me everything! You let yourself get hit by a Sludge Bomb to save one little Pokemon? You idiot trash! You could've died!"

"DID I HEAR SHIPPING!?" Hilbert exclaimed, bursting into the room. He was a lot more nonchalant about the situation than the other two in Brendan's room.

"That's because we're barely six chapters in. You'd have to be a pretty incompetent writer if you killed off one of your main characters this soon, or at all."

Don't test me, Hilbert.

"Who are you talking to?" Lana asked.

"Oh, uuuuuhhhh, no one!"

They stared at him like he was crazy.

Which he was.

"Oh shut up!"

"Anyway Brendan, here's the gist of what happened after you blacked out." Hilbert continued. "First, that weird Luna girl came and apparently helped you as far as we know."

"Why's that?" Brendan asked.

"She just kinda dropped your unconscious body here, told us to 'take good care of you', and then left." Hilbert explained.

"According to Lana, you were injured and poisoned." Lucas said, "But when you got here, there were no wounds to speak of and, while we did find traces of it, you were mostly cured of any poison. You'll still have to stay in bed for a day or two."

Brendan looked at Lana hoping for more info.

"Oh, sorry." Lana explained, "I passed out not long after you did, so I didn't see anything."

"Either way, after that, we brought you into the Pokemon Center to get some R&R." Hilbert said, "Lucas here was watching over you the entire time. Isn't that just adorable?"

"Shut it!" Lucas exclaimed in anger, "I was just here taking care of that girl while waiting to get some information out of the both of them!"

"Did you need to be here to do that?" Hilbert asked.

"SHUT UP!"

Brendan was ignoring the conversation and looking down.

The others in the room looked at him.

"So…" He said slowly, "Those thieves got away with all those Pokemon, huh?"

Lucas adjusted his hat and responded, "Yeah, they did."

Brendan started to grip his sheets.

"You can't give up on them!"

The three boys looked over at Lana, who had been mostly quiet up until now, stand up.

"You were brave enough to jump in front of a poor Pokemon and to try and save a whole swamp filled with them! There's no reason why you can't go and try again!"

…

The three boys all smirked.

"Well said kid, well said." Hilbert applauded.

"But come on, we were going to go save them eventually! Who do think we are?" Brendan added with newfound determination.

"Plus," Lucas looked at Brendan's bed, as the bed-sheets underneath were starting to get wet.

"Eww! Gross man!" Hilbert exclaimed.

"That's not him, you idiot!" Lucas explained. He reached down under the bed.

He pulled out the Dewpider that Brendan protected.

"Looks like not all of them got captured." Lucas gave the Dewpider to Brendan.

Brendan took the Dewpider and remembered the acts of bravery the little thing did.

The Dewpider looked back. It was trying its best to give a determined face through a mushed-up water bubble.

Brendan could see it in the Pokemon's droopy eyes.

"You wanna get stronger, don't you? To save your friends?"

The Dewpider nodded, accidently spilling water all over Brendan's bed sheets.

"Well, first we'll need to fix that." Brendan said clenching up from the liquid running down his legs.

"Hah! Have fun explaining that to nurse joy, Brendan!" Hilbert laughed.

Brendan ignored his friend's teasing and reached for his Pokeball, only to realize it wasn't there at the moment.

"Here." Lana outstretched her hands, giving Brendan the Pokeball.

"Thanks!" Brendan said as he took it out of her gentle hands.

"Mister Brendan, sir?" The girl said.

"Just call me Brendan."

"Oh, okay Brendan." Lana looked down before she made her request.

"I want to be stronger, too!" She clenched her fists as she said, "When I saw you fight Team Rocket off with nothing but your determination, I realized that I want to be a strong person for the people I care about as well!"

Brendan looked at the girl.

 _Something happened to her._ Hilbert thought, _She wants to help someone that's going through rough times._

Hilbert and Lucas looked at Brendan and smirked.

"You're becoming quite the role model now, aren't you?" Hilbert joked.

"Oh, please." Lucas argued, "Like this idiot trash could be anything but a destructive influence."

"Tough talk, coming from you, Crap-Basket."

Lucas sighed, "Fine, you can have that Dewpider as your Pokemon. As long as you can turn it into a good fighter, alright?"

"Got it." Brendan said as he looked at the Dewpider, "You ready?"

"Dew!"

"Alright, good answer!"

Brendan tapped the Pokeball to the Dewpider's forehead. A red light emitted from the Pokeball, engulfing the Pokemon in its glow. Then the light and the Pokemon were transported into the Pokeball as it closed.

1… 2… 3… Click!

Brendan had caught a Dewpider!

…

"You sure an Incineroar wouldn't have fit him better? This just seems like wasted potential."

Shut up Hilbert.

"Welp, either way, I should be going now." Hilbert said.

"Why's that?" Brendan asked while clutching his Pokeball with his newly acquired partner.

"I need to go for my catch, you dummy!" Hilbert answered, "We all agreed to get a Pokemon each. You got yours, now I'm getting mine." He explained.

He picked up his Pokeball and Brendan's old rod.

"I might need to borrow this, kay?" Hilbert said.

"Okay. You sure you don't want me to come along with little Dewy over here?" Brendan suggested.

"Seriously?" Hilbert laughed, "You can barely move and that Dewpider's still got a long way to go before it can handle a battle." He explained.

"Hey!" Brendan exclaimed.

"Don't worry." Hilbert turned to the door, "I got this."

He gave them a confident look.

"Oh, and I hope you can come up with an excuse for when Hala comes back!" He added, reverting back to his joking self.

"Wait, WHAT?" The two boys said in unison as Hilbert walked out of the Pokemon Center.

CHAPTER 6: PERFECT

As Hilbert walked through the streets to his destination, he decided to take a look around the shop stand area. He had no idea why he made this decision, for reasons that would soon come back to him.

There were a crowd of kids around a shop stand that was selling Malasadas for only 20 Pokedollars.

Hilbert's stomach started growling as a reminder that he hadn't eaten anything since last night. Once the crowd of kids left, Hilbert walked up to the stand.

"Hey there! How's about sharing one of those, uh," He took a second to get the pronunciation, "Ma -la -sa -da, is that how you pronounce it? Either way, can I get one?"

"Sorry dear, but I'm afraid we ran out just now." The woman running the stand explained.

Hilbert stared at the woman for a moment then started walking away.

"Okay, I get it. That's fine that's…"

The woman had already moved on to the next batch of young customers.

"...perfect."

Hilbert sighed. His stomach growled again. He started thinking to himself.

 _Why does this place hate me? Well, I know why, it's just…_

His thoughts were interrupted by Kukui walking up to him. At first he was almost ecstatic to see a friendly face, but then he realized something.

 _He looks pissed._

Hilbert greeted the professor.

"Sup Prof. Something wrong?"

"Kind of." Kukui replied, "I'm not sure."

"What do you mean?"

"Hilbert." Kukui said while giving Hilbert a cold stare, something he never seen on this man's face before.

"I had a talk with Ash." He said.

"Oh, that kid?" Hilbert said.

 _Now I get it._

 _...Perfect._

"What did you say to him?" Kukui asked in the most serious tone Hilbert had ever heard from him.

Hilbert didn't respond. He looked down.

"Huh?" Kukui beckoned.

Hilbert knew what was coming and he knew he couldn't stop it.

This again. Always him. No one else.

Why did he always get the cold stares?

The off-hand looks, the constant "What is that guy doing? Why is he even here? Why can't he leave?

It wasn't that he had a curse, or a demon hidden inside of him. He wasn't a literal monster, he didn't have any latent magical abilities.

It was because he told the truth. Or what was the truth to him, at least.

Hilbert looked back up at Kukui. He was still staring at him coldly, waiting for an answer.

Hilbert took a deep breath in before he spoke.

 _If this guy isn't going to let off the hook without a painful lecture, I'm going to make it just as painful for him._

"If you really had a 'talk' you should know exactly what I said to him." Hilbert said.

A pan dropped in the distance.

"Don't you play that game with me." Kukui replied. "I don't like confronting people like this any more than you do. All I want to know is what you said and why."

 _Oh please, you've been itching to do this ever since that kid came whining back to you. At this point, what I said doesn't even matter to you, and whatever reason I give you'll deflect off and use against me. You people are all the same._

Hilbert thought this, but didn't say it out loud, thankfully.

"Like I said," Hilbert repeated, "You wanna know so bad, ask him yourself."

Hilbert started walking away.

"He won't say anything to me." Kukui said, looking down, "That's why I'm asking you. And I know it's you and not those other boys because I heard them fighting with you back at my house." He elaborated. "I've never seen Brendan that angry at someone before."

Hilbert stopped, "Well, you don't know Brendan all that well."

Kukui chuckled, faintly, "He's not a hard guy to figure out. Unlike you." He turned to Hilbert.

"I want you to understand that all I want is to help Ash, but I can't do that without knowing what he needs help with." Kukui explained.

 _Huh, he really didn't tell him. Guess I underestimated that kid. And the professor._

"Look, Kukui," Hilbert started to reply, "You seem like a nice guy."

He turned around.

"But you really shouldn't let that kid keep running around with dreams he can never achieve. That way, at least he might be less disappointed with how this world really works."

He then walked away, leaving Kukui and continuing to the forest.

…

"Yawn."

Hilbert had been waiting for a bite for over an hour, but nothing was coming up.

"Ahh!" he exclaimed in frustration, "It's this stupid old rod! How's anyone supposed to catch anything with this?"

Or maybe it's the fact that you didn't use any bait.

"Okay, first of all, how the heck am I supposed to get bait? The entire island hates me! Secondly why are you starting the conversation this time? Third, WHAT THE HECK IS A BAIT?"

Oh yeah, Pokemon.

Well, just keep fishing, I know you'll find something.

"Stop acting like you have no idea! Your literal job is to know what's going to happen!"

Shut up, Hilbert.

"I would if you let me!"

Fine.

Hilbert stopped speaking to the voices in his head and continued fishing.

"Thank you- wait WHAT?"

He got a bite!

"Don't you change the subject! What was that about voices in my head? You callin' me crazy?"

No, seriously! There's a great Pokemon that you can get if you only reel it in-

"No! Heck if I do anything else you tell me to!"

Don't you walk away from me!

"Just watch me!"

Young man, you get back here this instant!

"Or what?"

Your Pokeball could get taken by a Magikarp.

"Yeah right! Wait, what?"

Hilbert looked back at the fishing rod and his Pokeball next to it. A Magikarp was looking at the Pokeball, hungrily.

…

"No, no, no!" Hilbert cried out.

The Magikarp attempted to eat the Pokeball, but missed and simply knocked it away.

"Phew!"

...Which caused the Pokeball to open.

"Wat."

And the magikarp to be transported inside.

"WAT."

1…

"There's no way it won't break out of that, right?"

2…

"Come on out, now! You can stop screwing with me!"

3…

"..."

...Click!

…

…

Hilbert caught a Magikarp!

…

"Perfect." Hilbert said as he picked up the Pokeball.

"Alright, Magikarp. Come on out." He said begrudgingly as he pressed the button to open the Pokeball.

The Magikarp came out and started flopping so much that Hilbert could barely hold onto it.

What Hilbert didn't realize was that the Everstone he found fell out of his bag in the scuffle.

"Hey calm down!" Hilbert said. He grabbed the Magikarp by its weird, long tentacle things.

"Huh." He exclaimed, "I always thought that this was a moustache or something."

He sighed as he analyzed his predicament.

"Well, at least this guy can become a Gyarados if I evolve it, so that's a plus.

Hilbert saw the Everstone and picked it up.

"Better get rid of this thing or else I could get stuck with a Magikarp that can't evolve!"

Then the Magikarp ate the Everstone.

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

"FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-"

…

"Perfect." Hilbert complained as he walked back to town with his new catch.

"RRGG, This is all your fault!" Hilbert said, pointing.

He had accidently pointed at a fisherman who was passing, who then gave him an annoyed look.

"OH, COME ON!"

Sorry, buddy. It's not my fault I don't actually exist there.

"Shut up!"

Hilbert kept walking until he made it to the Pokemon Center.

How was he going to explain this problem to his teammates?

"I'll just bluff it out until I can't anymore."

He walked into the Center and went into Brendan's room.

What he saw when he walked in was a number of sets of eyes looking straight at him.

Kukui had arrived with a strange green haired girl who was holding a plate that was covered, hiding its contents. Lana was looking at him with her small eyes. Lucas and Hilbert were looking at him the same way they did last night.

That look again.

Cold confusion mixed with anger.

They didn't, did they?

"What's happening guys?" Hilbert said nonchalantly, trying desperately to avoid what was coming next.

Kukui explained. "I told them about what happened to Ash."

"Yeah, and?" Hilbert said, keeping his happy go-lucky tone while cutting to the chase at the same time.

Kukui sighed that "An adult is about to tell me something they know I'm not gonna like" sigh.

"They told me what you told Ash." Kukui explained, "But they also told me that you were trying to help Ash, so I don't want to hold a grudge against you."

"But you are."

"Well I-"

"What happened to this Ash kid?" Hilbert said, no longer hiding any pretences of tone.

"He's-" Kukui started to explain.

"What?" Hilbert asked again.

"He's gone, Hilbert." Lucas said in complete seriousness.

"Gone?"

"As in missing." Lucas clarified.

Hilbert's mind went into a panic.

 _Wait, what?_

 _What was he thinking? I wasn't trying to…_

 _What happened?_

 _Was he kidnapped?_

 _Is he hurt?_

 _What about his Pokemon?_

 _What if he left the island?_

 _What if…_

He kept his face cold and discerning.

 _They might be lying._ He thought.

Even though he knew they weren't.

"I'm sorry about that." He said, "But if that kid let what I said get to him, that's his fault."

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!" Brendan yelled in anger as he tried to get up to strangle Hilbert, only to be stopped by the pain of the poison.

"Brendan calm down." Lucas said. He then walked over to Hilbert, "He's not… He's not entirely wrong."

"WHAT?!" Brendan exclaimed again.

"It's not like Hilbert was intending Ash would run off." Lucas explained. Hilbert noted how good he was at keeping his emotions in check when he wanted to, despite how angered he was.

"Even if what he said was hurtful, it was ultimately Ash's decision to run away." He continued.

"Huh," Hilbert said in surprise, "Thanks man." This was the second time Lucas had helped him out with an unfair situation.

 _Maybe this guy knows at least a little bit of where I'm coming from._

"So," Lucas then asked him, "did you catch any good Pokemon?"

Hilbert knew it was too good to be true.

"Well, I...uh." he stuttered.

"What?" Lucas asked, "It's okay if you didn't catch anything, as long as you still have that Pokeball."

"About that," Hilbert started to explain. He pulled out the Pokeball.

He sent out the Magikarp, which simply flopped around on the floor.

They all stared for a couple of minutes.

…

He didn't know why, but Hilbert told them the situation of the Everstone as well.

…

Lucas's fists clenched.

"So... first you ruin the dreams of a little kid." He said, barely holding in his anger, "Then you take our chances of finding our Pokemon a step BACKWARDS?! YOU SICK JOKE! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" He yelled, almost louder than Brendan did.

…

The room went silent.

…

Hilbert returned the Magikarp into its Pokeball and kept staring at the floor.

…

 _So this is how it is._ He thought. _They never forgave me for what I said to that Ash kid, and now I'm paying for the mistake of starting to care about them._

He looked up at Lucas with spite.

"That all you wanted to say?" He asked.

"I-" Lucas tried to say something, but couldn't. The damage had been done.

Hilbert stormed out of the room and out of the Center.

…

Hilbert walked around the back of the Pokemon Center so no one could see him.

"Perfect," he mumbled to himself.

…

"JUST PERFECT!"

He slammed his fist against the wall of the Center's rear end.

He then started doing something he hadn't done in over 5 years.

Cry.

 _Why am I crying? People have done this to me before. Why is this time any different?_

But he knew why.

He was sick of it.

He was sick of people treating him like trash over things he couldn't control. He was sick from hunger. He was sick of people expecting him to grit his teeth and bare the pain as if they knew what it felt like. He was sick of the pain of his hand as he continually slammed it against the wall.

…

He was sick of having to lose people over small mistakes that he couldn't control. He was sick of making connections with people, knowing that those connections wouldn't last. He was sick of having to wallow alone in this sickness.

He was sick of being alone.

And right now, he was more alone than ever.

…

He heard someone walking around the back of the center.

 _And here comes that half-assed apology so that they can feel better about themselves and leave me be._

He wiped away his tears and put on his most unimpressed face.

As the footsteps came up right behind him he started speaking without thinking.

"The hell do you want?" He said, still facing away.

No response.

"You damn son of a-"

He turned around to see the green-haired girl from before, still holding her plate.

Hilbert froze up with embarrassment.

The green haired girl started running away.

"Wait!" Hilbert cried out desperately.

The girl stopped.

"I'm sorry, I…" Hilbert was still shaken up by his tears. He pushed them back and kept talking, "I thought you were someone else."

The girl turned around slowly and walked back up to the older trainer.

She started to speak.

"I made this cake for my friend Ash, who you…" She stopped and tried again, "He was feeling kind of down and I thought, maybe one of my cakes would cheer him up… but now…"

"Oh, right, I'm… sorry about that." Hilbert said.

 _This Ash kid really connects with people, doesn't he?_

"No, it's not your fault, like Mister Lucas said!" She explained in a bit more of a chipper tone.

"Mister?"

"Yeah! He and Mister Brendan, um… they told me that if Ash wasn't around to be cheered up, to let you taste it first." She explained.

"Huh?" Hilbert was confused.

"Yeah, I thought it was weird too. But they said that you wouldn't see this coming, so here I am." She outstretched her arms, presenting the cake, "They… wanted to say they're real sorry, and that they know how it feels like to be alone."

Hilbert was just standing there in shock. How well could they know him that well from only one day of living with him? He wasn't that obvious, was he?

"While I'm not sure how this works better than a real apology, I have been wanting to have someone else try my cheer-me-up cake to see if it worked."

"Worked?"

"At cheering people up, silly!" She said with a smile.

The chipper girl took the cover off the plate while holding her outstretched hands to show Hilbert the extravagant chocolate cake underneath.

Hilbert gulped as he stared at the cake.

"This is my first time trying this recipe so it might be a little heavy on the sugar."

He just kept staring. While it did look a little uneven in places, he could tell that a lot of care went into it.

And still...

This was the one of the first times someone had ever offered him anything.

Hilbert hadn't realized how long he'd been staring for, and the young girl retracted her arms.

"Oh, yeah." She said, "You think this is pretty stupid, don't you? It's okay I'll just-"

"NO WAIT!" Hilbert cried out, yet again in desperation.

When the girl looked at the boy's face, she only then noticed his red eyes and tear tracks.

Hilbert looked down.

 _Perfect_

 _I'm such a damned idiot. I complain for friends, I complain for food, all I do is complain!_

 _And when I finally get those things, I lose them almost instantly and then complain about it!_

 _I'm such a-_

"Here."

Hilbert looked up.

The girl handed him a slice of the cake. It was a small, petit slice. With a fork on the side.

He stood there.

He then slowly took it.

"What's your name, kid?"

"Mallow." The girl answered.

Hilbert made note of that as he took the fork on the plate.

He slowly cut off a chunk of the slice.

Not a large chunk.

He balanced the chunk on his fork and brought it to his mouth.

He slowly put the the end of the fork in his mouth.

He closed his lips and pulled the fork out.

The cake was sickeningly sweet. There was more sugar than there was flavour. The texture was muddy, it stuck to the sides of his mouth like glue. Hilbert slowly swallowed the sugary mess.

"Well?" Mallow asked, worriedly.

Hilbert faced her with his eyes closed.

Then, with tears running down his cheeks he gave his critique.

…

"It's perfect."

To be continued...


	12. Family

Lucas looked throughout the Pokemon Center, tapping his foot impatiently.

"You sure he didn't say anything?" He asked Mallow.

"Nope. All he did was thank me for the cake-"

"WHICH IS DELICIOUS BY THE WAY!" Brendan yelled from his room.

"-then he stormed away." Mallow explained.

"Hmm…" Lucas's mind was racing.

 _Where is that idiot Hilbert? It's been four hours. There's no way he's going to battle more than once with the state that Magikarp was in, so where is he?_

"Its getting pretty late, isn't it?" Mallow pointed out.

"Yeah…" Lucas replied.

Brendan, Lucas, Lana, and Mallow had all mutually agreed to forgive Hilbert for his actions and move on. What they were worried about was whether Hilbert left to go find Ash himself, which seemed preposterous to Lucas.

 _Ash has three capable Pokemon with him that can keep him safe for the time being. Hilbert has one and I still seriously doubt that thing can count as capable. And if he's training he would've returned by now. Hilbert's pretty smart, I doubt he would do anything risky without a plan. The only problem is what that plan is._

"Sigh' there's no use worrying about it now." Lucas said. He started walking back to his dorm.

"But what about Hilbert?" Mallow asked.

"Hilbert can manage." Lucas assured, "He thinks practically, and, as much as I hate to admit it, out of him, Brendan and me, he's probably got the best skills in battle."

He looked back at Mallow, who still looked worried.

Lucas sighed again, "He'll be fine, stop worrying you idiot." He said as he walked off.

"Not the kindest words, but comforting nonetheless." A voice said.

"Jessily." Lucas exclaimed.

"What's so wrong with mother?" She asked.

"I don't think all moms scold their children every time they step out of line."

"Yes they do."

"Wait, really?" Lucas asked genuinely.

Jessily laughed through sadness as she gave her son a hug.

"I'm sorry you still don't know exactly what a mom is supposed to be like." She said.

"Thats your fault, remember?" Lucas said before pushing her away and walking off.

"Lucas, wait!" His mother beckoned.

Lucas turned around in annoyance.

"Please, I-"

"Stop." Lucas interrupted, "Dad said you were only allowed to watch over me. That doesn't mean pestering me, even if that is how a mom is supposed to act."

"But-"

"But then you go and send my Pokemon away to a place where they can be harmed and take away all my means of finding them!"

Jessily simply looked down.

"Now leave me alone, I have a friend to find in the morning."

Lucas started walking away again.

"Those weren't my decisions." Jessily said.

But Lucas had already left out of earshot.

Mallow walked over to Jessily after watching the display.

"What is he thinking, speaking to his mother like that?" She questioned.

Jessily looked at the young girl and simply smiled.

"Boys get worse at showing their emotions as they grow older." She said as she looked at her son walking away, "Not that I can blame him."

…

Lucas entered his room. He wasn't going to let his awkward family ties get in the way of his search, no matter what.

Because he was thinking this, he hadn't realized the Hilbert currently in his room, tearing through pamphlets and his old book with a malasada in his mouth.

…

"The heck are you doing?" Lucas asked, "We've been looking all over for you! Where have you been all this time?"

"Mfffvvvffff vvvvff." Hilbert replied.

"What?"

Hilbert took the malasada out of his mouth and spoke again.

"I said; shut it, I'll explain tomorrow!"

He stormed out of the room, pressing Lucas's book against Lucas on the way.

"Tomorrow? Wait, what are you planning? Where are you going? WHERE DID YOU GET THAT MALASADA? YOU'RE BROKE!"

"I stole it." Hilbert answered as he ran out of the center.

 _And there he goes again…_ Lucas thought as he looked at the book and the other research.

 _At least now I have an idea of what he's looking for._

…

The next day awoke with the morning.

Lucas had spent a couple hours before sleeping trying to figure out where Hilbert went. And after pouring through the Pamphlets and the sections of his book with Malasada crumbs on them, he now knew exactly where Hilbert was going.

Kind of.

Lucas was wondering about it.

 _There's no way Hilbert is expecting to do this with a weak Magikarp that can't evolve, right?_

He put his book in his bag as he walked out of his room. His thoughts were interrupted by Brendan running into him.

"Heeeeeyyyy, CRAP-BASKET!"

"What is it, Trash?" Lucas asked, annoyed.

"I'm all better! Know what that means?"

"I dunno train-"

"TRAINING! Come on, Dewy!" Brendan beckoned his Dewpider over.

The Dewpider was still a wobbly mess and was taking its sweet time getting across the 12 foot floor.

It walked one foot.

(2 minutes later)

It walked two feet.

(5 minutes later)

"You sure it wouldn't be better to just pick it up or something?" Lucas questioned.

"No!" Brendan replied, "This is part of the training!" he exclaimed while staring at his Pokemon like an extremely over enthusiastic parent teaching their child to walk.

The Dewpider was now three feet across the floor after 9 minutes.

"Alright, so I'm gonna go…" Lucas was about to leave when he heard a text on his phone. He picked it up and read what was possibly the most incomprehensible sentence he had ever seen.

Hilbert: upfam, i it cl tat I browed sme f yor quipent?"

"Huh?"

Lucas: What the heck are you saying? Have you ever used a phone before?

Hilbert: ope

Lucas: Where'd you even get that phone?

Hilbert: sole it

Hilbert: Alo, hashtag Trash-Basket shippin ftew!

"SON OF A-" Lucas kept typing away on his phone, trying to communicate with Hilbert, who seemed completely incapable of typing a proper sentence to save his life, but from that point, Hilbert wasn't responding.

Lucas sighed, "Ah great, now I have to keep Hilbert's new thieving schemes in check WHILE making sure this idiot masochist doesn't kill himself or anyone around him!" He looked over at Brendan who was cheering on his Dewpider with almost inhuman amounts of enthusiasm.

"I really need to get my Pokemon soon, or else we're probably stuck like this." He said.

Lucas had picked up his Pokeball and was about to leave when Nurse joy stopped him.

"Excuse me," She said running over, "You're Lucas, correct?"

"Yeah, thats me, what is it?" Lucas questioned.

"There's a letter and a small package for you."

She handed him a small box with a note attached to it.

Lucas took the package and examined it. It was fairly light and had a little bow on the top.

Lucas took the note off and read it.

 _I'm sorry for causing you so much trouble. I understand that this is a tough time for you, so I'll leave you alone for the time being. But make sure you don't try and do everything alone, those friends of yours can help you as much as you can help them, so open up a bit to them._

 _If you ever need any help, you know where to find me._

 _-Jessily_

 _P.S- This little cutie is for you, he's all I have to offer, so take good care of eachother!_

Lucas stared at the box for a moment.

…

"Here." he handed the box back to Nurse Joy.

"You're… not going to open it?" she questioned.

"It's… not important." Lucas said as he walked out of the center.

…

Lucas stormed off into the street of Iki town, thinking to himself.

 _Who does she think she is! First my Pokemon get taken because of her, and while she refuses to give me back my research materials to find them, she thinks that one Pokemon by itself is gonna be enough to fix that!_

He was so lost in thought that he didn't realize that there was a limosine about to crash into him.

The limousine swerved around, causing Lucas to fall over.

After a while of confusion, a young petite girl with a white dress and hat jumped out of the car and ran over to Lucas.

"Oh my goodness! Are you alright?" She asked.

"I'm fin-" Lucas was cut off by her butler who had come out of the vehicle and picked him up.

"Hmm… this is not good. Come, sir. We must tend to your injuries." He said, carrying Lucas into the limousine and ignoring the boy's struggling.

"Good idea, James!" The girl said as she walked behind them.

"I'm fine! There aren't any injuries to speak of!" Lucas tried to explain.

The butler didn't listen.

"I'm sorry young sir, but my master has some important business with you." he explained, quietly.

James the butler placed Lucas in the vehicle, strapped him in the seat belt and got in the driver's seat, all before Lucas could even attempt to object.

The young girl then got into her seat next to Lucas and a Vulpix jumped on her lap.

"Hey I-"

Lucas got so distracted by the Alolan Vulpix, what with its white fur that practically glowed in the contrast of the colourful scenery around it, that he didn't even realize the limousine was moving until they were already at the young girl's mansion.

"Wat?"

...

Back at the Pokemon Center, Nurse Joy looked at the box that Lucas had refused.

"I can take that to him."

Brendan had walked over after hearing the conversation.

"But he said that he didn't want it." Nurse Joy objected.

Brendan smirked.

"Don't worry, if he doesn't open the box, I'LL MAKE HIM!"

He grabbed the box and ran outside.

He looked around to see the mess caused by the earlier limousine.

"Hey Crap-Basket!" Brendan called out.

"Crap-Basket? Come on Crap-Basket!"

"Could you please stop swearing in a public space? You're a block away from a school for crying out loud!" A woman scolded Brendan.

"Oh, whoops."

Brendan decided to start asking around.

He would walk up to people, giving them a description and hoping they saw where Lucas went.

"He's about y-ey tall, a weird red hat-sort of thing, a light blue shirt and for some reason a red scarf." he explained.

"I saw him." A boy in the crowd called out. He was shirtless and had a tribal looking necklace and headdress along with fiery red hair.

"You did?" Brendan asked.

"Yes, he got taken to the mansion a couple of blocks away, here I'll show you."

The boy sent out his Charizard and signaled Brendan to get on.

"Wow! Thanks!" Brendan said to the boy as he got on, "What's your name?"

"Kiawe." The boy answered, "The girl that lives in that mansion goes to my school."

"What's a school?"

CHAPTER 8: FAMILY

As the giant mansion doors opened, Lucas was beckoned inside by the butler, James.

"Now come in, Young Master Lucas." He said.

 _Young Master? Now that's a name I don't hear that often._ Lucas pondered as he walked in.

The young girl with the Alolan Vulpix questioned this course of action.

"Are you sure you're alright to walk? I would feel terrible if somebody I didn't know got ingured because of me... " She asked, worriedly.

Lucas sighed his now almost signature sigh.

"Look, kid, I already told you. I wasn't even touched by your car." He explained, "Didn't your butler fill you in? Your master or whatever wants to see me."

The girl looked confused.

"Master?" She turned to the butler, who was closing the doors, "James, what is he talking about?" She asked.

"I'm sorry Miss Lillie," James the Butler apologized, "but I was requested to keep it a surprise for you. Your mother will be arriving soon."

"Mother? Really?" She asked.

"Mother?" Lucas looked at the young girl.

 _So this kid's the daughter of house, eh? Should've figured._

"You may show Young Master Lucas around until Miss Lusamine has arrived. I will go make some tea." James said as he left for the kitchen."

 _Lusamine?_

"Well alright, then. Come with me, Mister Lucas!" The girl extended her arm. Her Vulpix barked.

Lucas ignored it and started walking by, with the girl hesitantly following.

They walked by the many balconies and through the long hallways, stopping by at any rooms of interest.

"And this is my room!" She opened one of the doors, "It's a mess, isn't it?"

The room was practically spotless. There was only a simple Clefairy doll on the floor.

"Let me get that out of the way." Lillie said as she picked up the doll.

Lucas then entered the room and looked around. He wanted to find out more about this Lusamine character.

His gaze caught a family photograph that looked a couple of years old. Lucas picked it up and questioned about it.

"So, I assume this is your mother and brother." He said.

"Yes." Lillie replied. She slowly put the doll down and walked over to Lucas and the painting, "My brother, Gladion, left a while ago on his own Pokemon journey. He's… never been back here since."

"Why's that?"

"All I ever heard for a reason was that… he had something important to accomplish." Lillie said, with the most distant tone Lucas had heard from her.

"I just… I wish he would tell me what was wrong so I can help him."

That sentiment hit close to home with Lucas.

"Heh, I can relate to that." he said, chuckling.

"Really?" Lillie asked, still with the same distant tone.

"Yeah." Lucas answered. He turned to Lillie with a smile, something he hadn't shown yet. He didn't relate Lillie's plight, necessarily, but to this Gladion's.

"Try and be more considerate," He said, "I bet he's only trying to protect you.

…

They both stared at the photo for a moment.

…

Lucas then remembered that he wanted to know more about Lusamine before he met her for the first time.

"So, what's your mother like?" He asked.

Lillie at that point looked straight up depressed. This worried her Vulpix, who cuddled her leg to comfort her.

"Thank you, Shiron." She said, petting her beloved first Pokemon.

"I… don't know my mother all that well." She explained, "I mean, she loved and cared for both me and my brother when we were little, but those memories are a bit cloudy for some reason." She seemed the least bit upset, reflecting on that.

But she continued.

"Ever since a few years ago, my mother has been acting… strangely." She hardly ever comes to see me, which is mostly fine because I have James here with me, but… she feels... colder, now, for some reason."

Lillie kept looking down at her Vulpix which looked back up to her.

Lucas was feeling an almost eerie sense of familiarity with this family.

On top of that, the two had only just realized that this was the most that they had ever opened up to anyone about these matters. Lillie had never told her friends her true feelings towards her mother, and Lucas kept mostly distant to everyone.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Lillie quickly got up and gave an apologetic bow, "I blabbered on to long about things that don't really concern you, I-"

"It's fine." Lucas said, patting the girl on the head and walking out.

While they didn't realize was just how similar they were as people in terms of upbringing and family baggage.

...

They kept walking until they passed something that caught Lucas's attention.

He looked up at a painting of two altars. One was enveloped in a warm light and had pillars with the Sun drawn on them. The other was covered by a soft blanket of dark skies sprinkled with stars, with pillars that illustrated the moon.

"I've seen these before." Lucas said.

"You have? Where?" Lillie asked.

Lucas pulled out his old book and flipped through the pages.

Lillie tried to get a good look at the pages that were flying by as Lucas looked for the correct page.

"Here!" Lucas stopped at two pages, both with illustrations on them.

"These altars look exactly like the illustrations in this book." Lucas said, "That means these altars and these pages connect to something. Look" He showed the page to Lillie. And, just as he said, the illustrations in the book were almost identical to the ones on the painting. There were also poems for each illustration.

He then began to read the poems;

" _Once the illuminated Sun chases the night away, the heavenly lion will appear to strike down evil."_

" _Once the calming Moon reflects the light of the stars, the night angel will curse those who harm good."_

"Those sound like the legends of Solgalao and Lunala!" Lillie exclaimed, "Where did you get that book? What… is it?"

Lucas looked back at his book. He smirked.

"I honestly don't remember how I found it, but I know everything about it." He explained.

"This book is more than just an old relic filled with poems, it's a document, detailing the legends and myths of all the Legendary and Mythical Pokemon of the world."

"Thats… impossible!" Lillie stated, "How could anyone have documented anything like that?!"

"I don't know." Lucas said, "But I'll tell you this. In all of my journeys of trying to complete the Pokedex, this book has never let me down, not once."

Lillie gasped in amazement. "So, that means you…"

Lucas smirked yet again.

"This is essentially a Pokedex for Legendary and Mythical Pokemon, and I'm gonna use it to find all of them. I will complete the Pokedex, once and for all!"

Almost interrupting his triumphant speech was a pounding on the mansion doors.

"Hey Crap-Basket! You forgot something!" Yelled a familiar voice.

Lucas signature sighed again.

…

As they got to the main floor James, Brendan, and Kiawe were already waiting for them.

"Oh, it's Kiawe!" Lillie exclaimed as she rushed down to greet her guests.

"What are you doing here, Trash?!" Lucas exclaimed, rushing down to greet his guest.

"Special delivery." Brendan spouted, nonchalantly.

"Please make your business here quick!" James said, panicking.

"Woah, what's the rush, buddy?" Brendan asked.

"Yeah, James, what's wrong?" Lucas asked as well.

"She's almost here-"

James was cut off by the sound of a whooshing sound coming from the balcony that looked over the first floor.

"Isn't that the teleporter?" Lillie asked.

"Tele-whater?" Brendan asked.

"Please, you must hurry! If she sees you here she'l-"

"She'll what, James?" A woman's voice asked.

The voice came from a tall figure walking towards the balcony. She had gold high heels that complemented her gold hair and accessories. She wore a business skirt over white leggings, and her hair formed a cone around her body.

As she looked down, Lucas and Brendan finally saw her face.

It was a kind, gentle face that showed no signs of aggression.

"Come now, James. There's no need to scare our guests, now is there?"

…

"Alright." Hilbert said, finally prepared for his quest.

He had his Pokeball on his belt, his bag around his shoulder, and his borrowed cap on.

He stood before the gloomy cavern before him.

"Here goes nothing." He claimed, as he ran headlong into the wooded area, right past a sign that read;

VERDANT CAVERN: THE FIRST TRIAL GROUNDS AND HOME OF THE NORMALIUM Z

To be continued...


	13. Some Crappy Thieves

"Clunk!"

Jessie and James shared a toast with their Pokemon and Meowth, celebrating their enormous capture the previous day in their cave in the woods.

"Three cheers for the victory of Team Rocket!" James said, holding up his wooden glass.

"Hear Hear!" Jessie and Meowth said in agreement.

"AhaHA!" Jessie laughed, maniacally, "Now for the awards!"

The entire team cheered.

"First, the award for the most useful Pokemon goes to…"

Meowth did a drumroll on a stump.

"Wobbuffet!" She handed Wobbuffet a wooden medal.

"Waa?" Wobbuffet exclaimed in confusion.

"Hey!" James complained, "Wobbuffet hardly did anything! My Marienie was the real victor of that award! You're only picking Wobbuffet because it's your Pokemon! That's biased!"

"Oh, dear James, isn't everything in the world biased in some way?"

"Huh?"

"Think about it! Whether it's someone being tortured by a sibling, and your parents take their side, or a referee at a pokemon battle, who decided that you cheated by using an ineligible pokemon, which I CLEARLY DIDN'T-"

"We've heard this rant a million times, Jessie."

Jessie grunted and crossed her legs, "Well, I didn't even want the stupid award!"

"Yes, it does seem rather pointless." The pale boy in completely white clothing said.

"Exac- huh?" Jessie exclaimed.

There was now a boy sitting directly beside Meowth who had not been there a second prior. His sudden appearance caused Meowth to fall over.

"Wha- Who are you?!" James asked as the he and the rest of the Team scrambled up and away from the boy.

Sol ignored James's question and kept asking his own.

"Tell me, why do humans always assume that their existence is more important than anything else?" They seem hell bent on taking out their personal vendettas on unrelated victims in order to gain a feeling of priority that gives them nothing. The most petty of victories become something they fight wars over and the real issues they face seem to go ignored. Could you answer why that is?"

…

James's Marienie farted some toxic gas, causing Meowth to choke.

Team Rocket simply stared at the boy. They were frozen in both fear and confusion.

"Is the question too much to handle?" He asked, deadpan, "Or was it just my sudden appearance?"

Jessie finally mustered up the courage to speak, yet it was another question.

"H- how did you get in here?" She stammered, "Y-you don't look all that strong, that wierd Beware and Mimikyu was guarding the entrance!" She gained confidence as she mentioned.

"Y-yeah!" Meowth stammered in agreement, "You're probably just some wimp who snuck in here!" He unsheathed his claws.

"Yes!" James agreed as well, "You probably don't even have any strong Pokemon to defend yourself! Marienie, attack and show them why you're our greatest asset!" He commanded.

Marienie jumped and charged at the boy. It growled with anticipation, both for the attack, and for the affection of its trainer.

Unfortunately for its fantasies, the boy slammed it down with one strike. Marienie was sent into the ground, cracking the floor beneath it.

…

"WHAAA?!" All three of the speech capable Team Rocket members exclaimed, as well as Wobbuffet.

The boy sighed, "Jumping to unreasonable conclusions, typical." He said as he lowered his hand. It had some poison on it. The boy simply ignored it.

He then kicked the now fainted Pokemon straight into Wobbuffet, who was sent sent careening into the wall behind them.

He started walking forward with annoyed rage as Team Rocket backed up in fearful realization.

"B-but how?" Jessie asked in fear.

"If you must know," The boy explained, despite his now rather annoyed temper, "I took care of your little guard with my own two hands, though I didn't see any Mimikyu." He said.

"You… took down Bewear?!" Meowth asked in fear.

The boy teleported from where he was standing to right in front of Meowth, causing him to fall over again.

"A talking Meowth, huh? That's a new one." He said, kneeling down over the frightened cat Pokemon, "You're also not from this region, looking at your fur colour."

He kept observing the cat as Jessie and James, despite their fears, dove in to save their partner. Meowth was their partner and friend, they weren't going to allow him to get hurt, at least not without some difficulty.

Unfortunately, some difficulty wasn't enough for this destructive opponent.

He teleported away from the attack centered at him, causing Jessie and James to fall on top of eachother.

Without warning, the boy's body started glowing.

"U-Umm, twerp, c-calm down, now!" James tried to convince, still on the ground.

The boy ignored him. The glow was making it's way down his arm.

"Back away slowly James, this little... thing is clearly dangerous!"

"THIS IS A CHILD FOR CRYING OUT LOUD JESSIE!"

"I know, James, but as my mother told me: all children have rabies."

"Wait…Seriously?"

"THAT'S FROM A BITE YOU TWO MORONS!" Meowth exclaimed.

The boy pointed his arm at the trio and their Pokemon.

"IT'S GONNA BLOW!"

A blast of light shot out of the boy's right arm.

An explosion of light filled the cave as Team Rocket was sent flying out of it in classic fashion.

"And we had all of those Pokemon, too!" Jessie whined.

"It's like the writer is biased as well!"

Come on, James, don't be like that.

"Wait, you can see the midget too?!"

GET BACK IN POSITION, HILBERT!

"I'M NOT YOUR SLAVE, KAITO!"

YES YOU ARE!

'Sigh' Oh boy.

So, Team Rocket did their usual thing...

"WE'RE BLASTING OFF AGAIN!"

"WOBUFFETT!"

"MAREANIE!"

...as the boy back at the cave brushed his shoulders.

"Those idiots didn't have the decency to give me a good fight. How disappointing." He spoke to himself.

He walked further into the cave, looking for what he came here for. He found it at the back of the cave.

There was a giant container with a strange nozzle attached to it. All of the swamp Pokemon that Team Rocket had captured were trapped inside.

Having found his objective, the boy looked down from the container and held his arm up to look at it.

A screen appeared on the skin of his wrist, with Lusamine broadcasted on it.

"How has it been, dear Sol? Was your mission successful?"

"Yes." Sol answered, deadpan, "I've acquired the swamp Pokemon as you requested for testing purposes.

Giant footsteps pounded behind him.

A Beware that was covered in injuries was about to strike him at mach speeds.

Sol simply teleported behind it, causing the Pokemon to fall over.

"Something wrong?" Lusamine asked in concern.

"Nothing." Sol replied, "Just another annoying pest." He said as he held his arm up and as it started to glow.

...

Hilbert grunted as he and Magikarp moved the final few rocks out of the way.

"Phew! Finally! That took forever!" Hilbert said, wiping his brow after dropping the last rock on the ground.

Magikarp flopped over weakly and laid on its side. It was just about ready to pass out.

"Hah! You wimpy fish! A real man takes all the punishment in the world and then some!" Hilbert mocked.

While this may have been somewhat true for Hilbert emotionally, it certainly wasn't physically, as he collapsed on the ground momentarily afterwards.

The two laid there for the second, but not the last time in this forest.

"What do you mean by that?"

Oh, forget I said anything.

"No."

…

The two laid there for about 30 minutes until Magikarp noticed something and looked up at it.

"What is it now?" Hilbert moaned as he looked in the same direction.

Magikarp pointed with its tassels at a sort of totem. It had a hole in the center with a tiny pedestal on the inside curve.

Hilbert shot up to a sitting position. He pulled out one of the pamphlets he found in Lucas's room. He compared the markings and general look of each.

"This is it!"

He picked himself off of the dirt and shuffled towards the totem.

He looked over at Magikarp with a grin.

"Looks like you won't be a useless little fish after all!" He said, completely ignoring the fact that the Magikarp was more useful than him when moving the rocks earlier.

Magikarp simply flopped slightly to have a better viewing position. It looked at Hilbert, puzzled.

"With this Z-crystal, we'll be able to give some sweet new moves and strategies! All we need now is a Z-ring and we'll be able to pull off attacks more powerful than you could ever dream of!"

This information put Magikarp deep in thought about how it could be the King of the Magikarp. It's eye glinted with sheer determination.

Hilbert walked back to Magikarp to pick it up. He held the Pokemon under his arm as he walked over to grab the Crystal.

He picked up the tiny, clear prism and held it up to the sun. Under the sun's light, the crystal created a small rainbow behind the trainer and his Pokemon.

"Alright! Now it's time for the real training to begin!"

He chuckled at Magikarp's fear at that statement.

But just before he could place the gem in his pocket, he heard massive footsteps behind him.

"Oh DEAR Arceus- I forgot about that." He said quickly as the absolutely massive Gumshoos behind him swiped its arm at his head.

Thankfully, Hilbert was able to dodge it just in time, causing the Gumshoos to swipe straight through the totem, breaking it in half. However, the force of swing was so powerful that it blew Hilbert away.

As he sloppily rolled away-

"Hey, I'm doin my best here!"

-he slid and hit his back on one of the rocks.

After struggling a moment, he opened his eyes to see multiple things.

For one, he realized exactly how big the Totem Gumshoos was. He knew it was supposed to be bigger than regular sized Gumshoos, but this was ridiculous to him.

"Seriously, it's like the size of one and a half outhouses!"

... Seriously?

"Stop complaining! You're the one who can't come up with any better examples."

Shut up Hilbert.

"You first!"

Fine.

…

…

"What's happening?"

You told me to shut up.

"YOU KNOW WHAT I MEANT, YOU STUPID MIDGET!"

Alright, I got it.

Another thing Hilbert realized was that the totem was now in pieces, with the chunk still attached to the ground spitting out Z-Crystals at about 2 every seconds like a pipeline shooting out pebbles. The crystals started scattering all over the ground.

"Huh, that… actually makes a lot of sense." Hilbert realized. How else would the crystals supply themselves for each new trial taker?

He also noticed that he had dropped Magikarp as the Gumshoos loomed over it, ready to strike.

"Oh crap!" He exclaimed as he tried to get up.

But hitting the rock had injured him more than he thought. He couldn't get up.

He grunted as he tried to ignore the pain, but it was too much. His spine felt like it was chipped and he was winded. All he could do was watch.

But he used all of his strength to give at least one command.

"MAGIKARP! LISTEN TO ME!" He screamed, airless, yet loud enough for his Pokemon to hear.

"USE MAGIKARP'S REVENGE! FULL POWER!"

…

The Magikarp did nothing, because it did not know how.

"DAH!" Hilbert exclaimed in pain.

Dude, did you seriously think a terrible overused meme would actually work?

"Screw you! I knew that already!"

Then why did you say it?

"Desperation, damn it!"

Unfortunately for Hilbert-

"Again."

-the Gumshoos made quick work of the Magikarp and now loomed over him.

It simply stared at the trainer who was foolish enough to try and steal the Z-crystal without properly clearing the trial.

"So… slap on the wrist?" Hilbert chuckled nervously.

…

The Gumshoos shuffled along as it dragged the two delinquents to the edge of the forest. It then flung them onto the ground like two heavily beat up rag-dolls, which at this point, is an apt description.

The trainer and his Magikarp lied on the ground, pummeled and defeated.

This scenario seemed all too familiar to Hilbert.

He was in pain. It hurt when he tried to move his arm from under his back, he landed on a stick that was jabbing at his thigh. He could barely even turn his head to his Pokemon, who wasn't faring much better.

…

 _Well…_ he thought to himself, _at least I'm not alone this time._

He kept looking at the fish Pokemon.

…

He now had a small liking to Magikarp.

Sure it was weak, scared, wimpy, and almost as lazy as he was, but it had determination, despite those flaws.

It reminded Hilbert of someone.

Magikarp were inherently weak, there was no way around that.

But that didn't mean anything to someone who broke the rules and acted jerkish just because he could.

Hilbert wanted to see this Pokemon grow, see this derpy fish become a force to be reckoned with, a powerful and brave Pokemon who could prove all those who thought of it as useless wrong.

Prove them wrong.

…

Of course, Hilbert knew that that would take effort.

Effort he was not yet sure either of them wanted to spend.

Especially without that Normalium Z.

And, almost as if on cue, Magikarp started retching.

Hilbert watched in confusion as it tossed and turned, flopping around like it couldn't breath. Like it was choking on something.

"What the heck are you-" Hilbert asked, but was interrupted by the Normalium Z covered in saliva that had plopped right next to him.

…

…

Hilbert stared.

Then he chuckled.

Then he giggled.

Then he laughed.

Then he laughed harder.

Then he laughed so hard that coughed.

Magikarp simply layed next to him, completely out of steam and ready to just fall asleep, which it knew that Hilbert wouldn't let it do.

"YOU ARE THE WEIRDEST, DUMBEST, STUPIDEST… AWESOMEST, AMAZINGEST, BRAVEST, AND, most of all, GROSSEST POKEMON I HAVE EVER HAD THE DISPLEASURE OF CATCHING!" Hilbert screamed.

Magikarp stared, dumbfounded by the horribly confused statement, then simply went back to sleep.

"You wouldn't happen to be able to spit out that Everstone, would ya?"

Magikarp ignored Hilbert's question and kept dozing.

…

Chimchar dashed through the forest.

It had no issue with jumping from tree to tree, which in all honesty, it didn't need to do because at this point, Lucas was far, far behind it.

It dropped from the trees and started dashing on the ground.

As it dashed, it pushed all of the pain it had suffered in the past to the back of its mind.

The trainer that finally released it, the people who did all the terrible things beforehand, and all others were behind it.

Right now, this Chimchar only wanted one thing.

It wanted the thing that it had been denied since the moment it was hatched from its egg.

Freedom.

There was nothing that could stop it. It kept running and running to a place where it could finally care for no one but itself.

"You done fantasizing yet, you little monkey trash?"

Chimchar, surprised, tried to stop haphazardly and simply slid into the trainer's leg.

The Pokemon, dazed, looked up at Lucas. He already had a Pokeball in his hand, ready to retrieve Chimchar at any point.

Lucas had simply taken the path through the forest which allowed him to outpace the Chimchar who went around.

The two looked at each other with very opposed expressions.

The Chimchar scowled at the all-too-familiar face that it was used to seeing by now. A cold, calculating face that sought to use Chimchar for their own gains.

Lucas, on the other hand was slightly annoyed, slightly confused, but mostly apathetic. He had never really considered the feelings of a Pokemon before. He wasn't ever cruel to them, they just seemed to all act the same once captured. That's what made this encounter annoying and confusing. This Chimchar was already captured, and while Lucas knew it was common for Pokemon to sometimes disobey new masters, that only seemed to be the case for new trainers.

This Chimchar was not only trying to escape, it was disregarding Lucas's status as a trainer, which he understood to some degree because he had none of the Gym badges he had earned in his travels, but it still made him feel slightly angered with the obliviousness of the Pokemon.

That kind of rebelliousness also reminded him of someone.

…

The two simply kept staring at eachother for a moment.

Seizing Lucas's lack of action, Chimchar pounced at his head. It spit embers in his face and bounced of it into the trees.

"No you don't!" Lucas exclaimed as he extended his hand, shooting out the red beam of light that captured Chimchar inside.

…

Lucas held the Pokeball up and looked at it. He could feel the Pokemon inside trying to break out.

Lucas considered the Pokemon's unique features that he had observed earlier.

The scar over it's left eye, the traces of bandages all over its body.

Lucas knew what had happened to make this Chimchar so resentful of humans.

"They got to you too, huh?" He asked while staring at the Pokeball. He wasn't sure why he asked that, as he knew that the Pokemon couldn't hear him.

He stopped thinking too hard about it as he heard footsteps coming from behind him.

"HEY! Crap-Basket!" Brendan yelled to Lucas as he and the group of young trainers ran over to him.

They had obviously taken the same route as the Chimchar because of Brendan's terrible sense of direction.

"Did you find Chimchar yet?" Sophocles asked as he took a moment to catch his breath.

Lucas simply nodded and turned around.

"We should probably be heading back." He said.

The group agreed and started walking. It had already become dark out.

As they were walking, Brendan chuckled at Lucas.

"HAH! That Chimchar of yours was so revolted by your face that it ran away in fear!"

"Shut up, Trash!" Lucas responded, finally sounding like his old self again. "Save the crappy insults for Hilbert once we find him!"

Almost as if on cue, a figure came barreling through the woods and landed right in front of the group.

Lillie screamed as the rest gasped in shock.

Hilbert had tumbled down, clutching his Magikarp in his hands. He then laid, sprawled onto the ground.

…

After a moment of silence, Hilbert shot up from the ground with so much energy, it was almost enough to cause both him and the group whiplash.

"There you guys are! I've been looking for you everywhere!" He exclaimed.

"You've been…" Lucas stammered and then shouted in anger. "YOU'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR US?! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK WE'VE BEEN DOING THE ENTIRE DAY!"

"More like couple of weeks, AMIRIGHT, KAITO?!"

Shut up Hilbert.

"I don't care about your dumbass delusional fantasies, WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?" Lucas exclaimed in rage.

"Hey, tone down the language in front of the kids."

"I'LL CURSE AS MUCH AS I WANT WHEN TALKING TO YOU!"

"HEY TONE IT DOWN! MAGIKARP IS SLEEPING!"

"I AM YELLING ALSO!" Brendan blurted out.

"Dewy!" His Dewpider shouted in a small, cute voice.

As the three older trainers bickered, the younger trainers pondered about them.

"Um, Mallow," Kiawe asked. "Are you sure these are the kind of guys we want to train with?"

"Yeah…" Sophlolecles agreed. "I'm still not seeing these guys as good influences. They act like the kind of guys my parents want me to avoid."

"Oh, come on, you two!" Mallow said as she attempted to put her friends worry to rest. "Brendan saved Lana's Popplio, Lucas is a Pokemon genius, and Hilbert… Hilbert can be nice when he wants to be!"

Sophololcles looked over again at Hilbert, who was shoving his Magikarp in Lucas's face whilst screaming about how they shouldn't wake it up. He then turned back to Mallow with a skeptical look, which she immediately disregarded.

"Wait, what's that?!" Lillie pointed at a light that was emitting from the sky above the forest.

It wasn't a bright light, had they been further away they probably wouldn't have noticed it. A strange, large, glowing container filled with water was being lifted up and levitated away into the night sky.

"Hey, that looks kinda familiar." Brendan noticed as he tried to get a better look at the levitating object.

"That-That's the container full of swamp Pokemon that Team Rocket stole!" Lana pointed out.

The container then disappeared as if it was now hidden from view.

…

"Was that a UFO?" Mallow asked.

"It looked like a UFO." Lana pointed out.

"I think it's a UFO." Sopoholces suggested

"Why was there a UFO?" Kiawe asked.

"How was there a UFO?" Lillie asked.

"That wasn't a UFO!" Lucas explained.

"Screw you! That was totally a UFO!" Hilbert argued.

"Whats a UFO?" Brendan asked.

 **To be continued...**


	14. Why So Serious?

Sol nearly collapsed after arriving to the cave. He had dropped the container full of Pokemon deeper in so he could guard it.

Sol panted. It felt like there was something burning on his body that kept sapping away his energy.

"AHHHHGGG!"

Painfully.

Sol looked around for the area of pain on his body that hurt the most. He eventually came to his right arm. Specifically, the area where he had touched the Marinie. There was a seeping poison that hurt much more than expected. The toxic sludge had partially melted its way through his flesh, all while giving him a sickening feeling.

"Rggh!" He exclaimed in pain, "Where is 1-8VZAL!?" (pronounced "one, eight, v-i-zal for those keeping track at home).

He simply peered out of the cave to make sure no one had noticed him. He then held up his other arm in order to contact his owner.

Nothing but static on the skin of his wrist.

"Tch!" He exclaimed as he shook his arm away, "I'll have to wait it out here until she finds me."

…

"Are you okay, Mr. Hala?" Luna asked as she placed the wet towel on his forehead.

"I'm… fine, Luna." The bedridden Kahuna stated through the pain he was suffering.

"Okay, you just get some rest." She replied.

Hala obeyed and started to doze off.

…

Luna stared at the Kahuna. She wanted to help him, desperately. But nothing she did seemed to make him feel better.

She held out her right arm. It started glowing a warm, green glow. Luna couldn't remember how she learned to do this, but it had already helped multiple people before, like that boy who fell from the sky, and the other boy that got poisoned protecting that innocent Pokémon.

But, it had never worked on the Kahuna she was trying to repay. And she had tried many times. Unfortunately, this procedure seemed to only make his condition worse, if anything. But what else could she do?

She was about to put her hand on the Kahuna when a sharp pain started attached itself to her arm.

Luna grunted, but kept quiet as to not wake the Kahuna up.

She walked out of the room and into the washroom. She washed her hands, trying to find out exactly what was happening.

She came out of the washroom as confused as she was when she entered.

Luna held her forehead as it felt odd. She felt like someone was calling her for help, but she couldn't tell who, or where.

There was a voice that kept repeating something, it sounded like a name, but she didn't recognize it.

This wasn't the first time it had happened either, but it was the first time the feeling was so vivid.

Luna simply pushed it out of her mind. A nice walk below the night sky always seemed to cheer her up. She wasn't certain because she didn't seem to know much about herself. But that didn't really bother her all that much.

Luna then walked out of the front door into the now quiet Iki town.

Iki town.

She hadn't lived there for long, but it already felt like a home to her. All the people seemed nice, and the entire town just felt cozy. She felt really bad that this nice place had to take her in at such a confusing time, what with the Kahuna in his current condition and the island guardian now missing.

But she was grateful.

She started walking down the steps of the house. She then started wandering around in no specific direction, with the moon shining brightly above.

CHAPTER 11: WHY SO SERIOUS?

The two older trainers kept mumbling and pouting.

"You guys are still mad?" Mallow asked them.

Lucas and Brendan kept mumbling.

"It's alright, Mallow," Hilbert said, "It's not everyday someone you mocked ends up getting a Z-CRYSTAL BEFORE YOU DO! HAH! TAKE THAT YOU POWER COUPLE!" He kept shoving his newly-acquired Z-Crystal in his fellow trainer's faces.

"SHUT UP!" The two replied in unison.

"I still think that he cheated to get that." Lucas muttered somewhat coherently.

"Oh, is the genius Lucas still buthurt because he couldn't get the crystal before the idiotic Hilbert?" Hilbert mocked.

As they were arguing like 8-year olds, the 10-year olds contemplated their earlier decision.

"Are you really sure they can help us like this, Mallow?" Soploclesel asked.

"But what about the awesome things they did during their battle? Mallow turned back and retorted.

"I'm sorry Mallow, but I have to agree with Sophocles on this one." Lillie said, "I think we should wait until after they find their Pokemon before we ask too much of them."

"Yeah…" Kiawe agreed, "Lillie's got a point. They're… not the most impressive without their Pokemon to back them up."

"Aww, you guys too?" Mallow pouted. She turned to Lana.

Lana simply stared at the ground.

Mallow sighed, "Maybe we will have to do it ourselves." She turned back to look at the older trainers.

"I AM GONNA SHOVE THIS Z-CRYSTAL UP YOUR BUTT IF YOU DON'T GIVE ME THAT Z-RING, BRENDAN!" Hilbert screamed as Brendan ran down the hill to the Pokemon Center whilst blowing raspberry alongside Lucas.

"GO RIGHT AHEAD, THAT WAY, NO ONE WILL KNOW YOU STOLE IT!" Lucas retorted.

"Nice one!" Brendan complemented, "High five!"

Since Lucas swung far too weakly and Brendan far too strongly, they both swung and missed each other's hand, slapping each other's face. This caused Lucas to start falling down the hill, dragging Brendan down with him.

The two tumbled down through bushes, puddles, and a badly-placed, outdoor, Under-the-Stars Grimer appreciation convention.

"HAHA!" Hilbert laughed, "Looks like things are gettin serious between you two!"

"SHUT UP, HILBERT!" The two fallen trainers said in unison as a Grimer started consuming Brendan's head and as Hilbert danced, mockingly with his hand in the shape of an L on his forehead.

"...yeah," Mallow admitted slowly, "You... might be right about that."

…

"WHAT!" Hilbert, Lucas and Brendan yelled in unison.

"I said that we had to give one of your rooms to someone else, meaning that one of you will have to share a room." Nurse Joy repeated.

The three of them turned pale as a sheet, until Hilbert had a realization that turned his into a smug, lightly tanned face.

"Wait, why didn't we get a say in this?" Lucas asked Nurse Joy.

"Yeah!" Brendan agreed, nodding his head.

"Well… you three were outside for a while, it's almost midnight." Nurse Joy explained.

"And unlike you three," Kukui added, as he had been waiting for his students all day, "This person actually paid for his room and board!"

"Oh…" The three quieted down.

"That reminds me…" Kukui added, "Shouldn't all you kids be at home soon?" He asked his students.

"Oh, no worries!" Mallow answered.

"We all agreed to camp out at the Center together, our parents know we're here!" Sploploclesh explained.

"Oh, alright." Nurse Joy understood, "You sure you don't want me to at least call them?"

"No no no no no!" They all said in unison whilst shaking their heads with reassuring smiles on them.

Nurse Joy looked at them, skeptically. "Well alright then."

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait," Lucas interrupted, "Why the the heck do they get free rooms and we have to double up?"

Brendan nodded his head more ferociously.

"Sorry!" Mallow apologized, "We're probably the reason you guys have to clump together."

"At least they paid for their rooms." Nurse Joy added.

"Oh, come on! Hilbert, back us up on this!" Lucas turned to Hilbert. Brendan nodded his head so intensely it looked like it was about to fall off.

Hilbert had already started entering one of the rooms.

"Have fun sleeping together!" He said with a troll-like grin.

Lucas and Brendan simply stared, dumbfounded at how played they just were.

"But, b- bu- b-b-b-but, but i-, but I-" Lucas kept stammering as Brendan fell over from head trauma.

…

Hilbert lied on his bed facing up. His Pokeball with Magikarp in it sat at his bedside. He held the strange hat above him, observing it. He had yet to ask Luna of it's origin, and was no closer to finding that out by himself.

He chuckled. Of all the problems he was trying to solve, this was the one that was that he was stuck on?

 _Heh, I need to start somewhere._ He thought to himself.

He threw the hat to his doorknob. He missed, causing it to land on the floor. He ignored it.

He closed his eyes for a second, then when he opened them back up, magikarp was sitting on his chest.

Suddenly Magikarp let out a large roar and transformed into Arceus.

He then gave Hilbert massive biceps and spawned lady activewear models who were swoon over by him.

Hilbert laughed as Lucas and Brendan were forced to bow at his feet as he was fed grapes and his nails were polished by all the regional champions.

Then Hilbert realized he was dreaming-

"OH, COME ON!"

-due to him being woken up by the sound of his door opening.

"Who's there?" He said, still half asleep.

He then changed his expression from confusion to apathetic annoyance as he realized who it was.

It was that Ash kid. Trying to retrieve his hat which had gotten mixed up with Hilbert's.

…

"Hey! Give that back!" Ash yelled as Hilbert walked out of the center after snatching the hat back.

He put his fingers to Ash's lips implying for him to be quiet. He then spoke to him in the most whispery, screamy voice he could manage.

"It's basically midnight! Do you want the entire town to wake up?"

"Oh, ok." The boy agreed. He then spoke in the most whispery voice he could manage, "That's mine! Give it back!"

Hilbert ignored the question and asked his own, "Where the heck have you been? Do you know the kind of verbal abuse I've been getting ever since you disappeared? These people have been worried sick about you!" He waved towards the rooms that the rest of Ash's classmates were supposed to be sleeping in.

"Oh, they were worried? I'm… sorry about that." Ash looked down. He seemed concerned about many things.

Hilbert sighed.

 _It's really hard to stay mad at this kid._

"It's… fine. Just… what happened to you after you ran off?"

Ash kept looking down.

"What happened to that Pikachu of yours that always sat on your shoulder?"

Ash kept looking down.

…

"Look, kid! No one can help you if you keep it to yourself! Do you want me to help you find it or not?" Hilbert spoke in a normal volume voice now.

Ash's head shot up in surprise, "Wh-when did I tell you Pikachu got stolen?"

Hilbert held his brow with his fingers, "Seriously?"

He then put the hat on.

"Hey!" Ash exclaimed, 'I said that's mine!"

Hilbert observed Ash. He then turned to the door, "Then let's make a bet: A one on one Pokemon battle. If you win, I give you this hat back, but if I win, you gotta tell me all about you, including where that Pikachu of yours went."

"A battle?" Ash asked. He contemplated for a moment.

"Sure! Sounds fun!"

"Huh?" Hilbert gawked at the absolute lack of hesitation this kid displayed. Was he hiding his feelings? Was he just showing off?

At that moment, Hilbert realized something.

 _This kid hasn't brought up what happened yesterday at all._

This Ash kid didn't seem to harbour any resentment towards Hilbert, much to his surprise.

Hilbert wondered about this, but not for long as Ash was already waiting for him outside.

…

Hilbert turned the hose off as the toy bucket he was filling became heavy enough. He carried it over to the battlefield a ways away from the center. They had chosen to go far enough so that no one could hear them.

"What's that for?" Ash asked, pointing at the bucket.

"Oh, nothing, just ignore it." Hilbert said.

"Um, okay."

Hilbert looked at the boy. Ash pulled out a Pokeball and was about to send out his Rockruff.

Hilbert finally decided to ask him.

"Hey, kid."

"Yeah?" Ash said, mid Pokeball throw.

"Do you remember about what happened yesterday? About what I told you?" Hilbert asked.

"...Yeah." Ash answered, hesitantly.

"So…, what? Are you mad at me or…" Hilbert asked again, trying to get a read on this strange boy.

"No, not really." he answered.

"Why not?"

"Because!" Ash turned his hat around, "I'm gonna prove you wrong!"

Hilbert looked at him with a questioning face.

"I'm actually pretty glad you challenged me to a battle! Now I can show that I CAN become a Pokemon Master!"

Now Hilbert understood. _So that's how it is, huh?_

He dropped the bucket and walked to his side of the field.

"Fine then, kid-"

"My name is Ash Ketchum!" Ash interrupted.

"I know yo- wait, your last name is ketchum?"

"Um, yeah?"

"That's just- you know what never mind." Hilbert discarded the question.

 _That has got to be one of the stupidest last names I've ever heard of!_

"Alright, Ketchum! Let's see how well trying to prove me wrong works out for ya!"

Hilbert pulled out his Pokeball.

Ash put down his bag.

The two trainers looked each other in the eye as they prepared to send out their Pokemon.

"Go Rockruff!"

"Go Magikarp!"

…

Ash's Rockruff came out of the Pokeball and landed on the ground.

Hilbert's Magikarp landed in the bucket Hilbert had placed. It sat on the rim. It then wrapped its tassels around the handle of the bucket to keep itself steady.

"Huh?" Ash stated, confused at the odd display shown in front of him. His Rockruff barked in just as much confusion.

"Impressive, huh?" Hilbert gloated, "You know how most of the time when Magikarp battle, they flop around like they have trouble breathing?"

Ash nodded, still wondering what the older trainer was referring to.

"You see, I'm having Magikarp sit in this bucket so it can steady itself and breath better. That way, it can actually launch attacks!"

"Wow! That's pretty cool!" Ash exclaimed, "But… isn't that kinda cheating?"

"Nah," Hilbert denied, "It's basically the same as having an item, right?"

"Okay, I guess…" Ash answered, sheepishly.

"Come on! I thought you wanted to get this battle started, already!"

"Ro ruuf!" Ash's Rockruff barked back at him. Hilbert could barely see it, but it seemed that the Pokemon gave its trainer a look of fierce determination, which seemed to brighten Ash up some more.

""You got it!" He said, "Rockruff, use Tackle!"

Ash's Rockruff obeyed and charged towards the bucket-ridden Magikarp.

"Alright Magikarp, you remember what I told you?

Magikarp obeyed. Before Rockruff could reach it, Magikarp jumped up and lifted the bucket off the ground. Hilbert had planned for Magikarp to flip the bucket over its head and smash it into Rockruff, but Magikarp simply dropped it right where it was, only with Rockruff now underneath it.

 _That works, I guess…_

"Hey! That's not fair! You can't use items like that! That's against the rules!" Ash shouted at the older trainer.

Hilbert ignored him and went to the next attack. He didn't call anything, but Magikarp then grabbed Rockruff's tail with its tassels and pulled it out from underneath the bucket. It then flipped Rockruff into the air and slammed it on the ground behind the bucket.

"Rockruff, no!" Ash cried out.

Magikarp, still with no vocal orders from Hilbert, then repeated and threw the Rockruff in front of itself.

"You okay, Rockruff?" Ash asked his Pokemon.

Rockruff got up and barked in assurance.

"Alright! Now use Rock Throw!"

Rockruff started bobbing its head up and down. The darker tufts of fur on its neck started glowing. Then small, sharp rocks start flying out of its tufts and towards Magikarp.

Magikarp started wriggling with panic.

"It's okay Magikarp!" Hilbert reassured, "Just fall backwards!"

Magikarp obeyed and leaned backwards, causing it and the bucket to fall over. The bucket acted as a sort of shield while Magikarp laid behind it in relief.

It didn't lay there for long as Ash ordered Rockruff to jump up in the air.

"Use Rock Throw again!" He said.

Rockruff obeyed and threw more rocks at Magikarp, this time from above. It centered itself to make sure all the rocks went in one direction.

Magikarp started panicking some more.

"Just calm down!" Hilbert demanded, "Just grab the bucket while jumping away!"

Magikarp did so. It latched onto the bucket's handle, then bounced off of it. Its tassels stretched, leaving room in between Magikarp and the bucket, room that the rocks would fill allowing Magikarp to dodge the attack while still staying attached to the bucket.

"We're not done yet! Rockruff, Bite!"

Rockruff darted down, baring its fangs.

"Wait for it…" Hilbert advised.

Magikarp waited for Rockruff to get close enough.

"Now!" Hilbert ordered.

Magikarp pulled itself towards the bucket, dodging Rockruff's attack yet again.

Rockruff, surprised by this trick, slammed face-first into the ground.

"Rockruff!" Ash cried out.

"Now!" Hilbert continued, "Finish it with Tackle!"

Magikarp pushed off the bucket and charged towards Rockruff, who was still recovering from its crash.

With the added power of the push off the bucket plus the pull of gravity, Magikarp slammed into Rockruff with powerful force. And since Magikarp fell straight down, all of the impact was put on Rockruff.

…

It was a powerful Tackle for a Magikarp, is what I'm saying.

Magikarp's bucket landed on the ground in front of Hilbert. Magikarp then flopped clumsily into it.

"Rrrgh!" Ash grunted. He was trying to find a way around this strange bucket strategy, but nothing seemed to work. This annoyed him greatly, far more than natural for him, and he didn't know why.

What was so different about now?

Ash decided to lash out.

"Come on! That's against the rules! You're cheating!"

"Jeez!" Hilbert finally exclaimed in response, "Do you just whine and moan every time you lose?"

"No, but I do when the battle is unfair!" Ash argued.

Hilbert sighed, "I never said this was gonna be a fair match. Trust me, when it comes to matches where you bet something, this kind of stuff is par for the course."

"Huh?"

Hilbert clutched his brow, "Look kid, I get that you probably haven't encountered this before, but in the real world, there's no real rule book for how to battle, they just give you some obvious guidelines to follow when in tournaments and Gym matches."

Ash still looked confused.

Hilbert, annoyed, explained more to him, "Look, do you need me to give you all the details? If you're not in a tournament, where there are people who enforce the rules of that tournament, you don't actually have to follow the rules!"

Ash looked slightly heartbroken.

"S-so, do all trainers really do that?" He asked.

Hilbert paused as he wasn't sure if this young boy was prepared for the truth.

…

"No, not really. Mostly just me." Hilbert answered, looking away.

"THEN YOU ARE A CHEATER!" Ash yelled.

"Hey, I don't always battle like this! …okay I kinda do, but that's not the point! And it's not breaking the rules, so it's not cheating!"

Rockruff barked at the both of them. It had gotten up and was ready for more battling.

Ash looked at Rockruff as it looked back at him.

"That's right, Rockruff! We're gonna beat this cheater no matter what it takes! And then, we'll prove that we're Pokemon Masters!"

HIlbert, on the other hand, was fed up at this point, and his Magikarp was a little embarrassed to need to cheat in order to battle at all. So Hilbert returned it to its Pokeball.

"Hey, what are you doing?!" Ash asked, slightly furious.

Hilbert clutched the hat that was on his head.

"This is pointless." He stared at Ash, "We both know I'm not in a good position for battle, and that you'd probably win this one. We also know that you're not gonna tell me about your problems even if I do win. You beating me like this won't prove anything, unfortunately. And I don't need to prove myself to a little whiny brat who can't take the real world seriously, and who can't give up on a stupid dream that'll never come true."

He took off the hat and threw towards the ground at Ash's feet.

"Take your stupid hat." Hilbert said as he started to walk away.

…

…

…

"...take that back." A small voice said, barely loud enough to hear.

Hilbert stopped walking and looked back to see where the voice was coming from, despite him knowing very well.

"What was that?" He asked.

Ash gripped his hands as hard as he could. His teeth grinded together. His entire body ached with a rage he had never felt before.

He then screamed out at the top of his lungs.

"I SAID TAKE THAT BACK!"

…

Hilbert looked back in a bit of confusion.

"Sorry, did you mean the stupid hat thing or the stupid dream thing?"

"The stupid dream thing!"

"Ah."

Ash stomped passed his hat to confront Hilbert directly. He was about to unload his rage onto Hilbert, but was interrupted by Hilbert's next suggestion;

"I'd suggest you put Rockruff back in its Pokeball before things escalate any further." Hilbert pointed to Ash's Pokemon.

...

Rockruff sat like a scared puppy, looking almost afraid of its owner. It had never seen Ash so angry in the breif time it had spent with him.

Ash looked at it in shock.

"It must be hard for it to see the trainer it respects lose his cool like that." Hilbert said.

Ash understood and walked over to Rockruff.

…

"I'm… sorry, Rockruff."

He simply pulled out its Pokeball and returned it.

He felt disappointed with himself.

…

The two stared at each other.

…

 _Why does being around this kid feel almost… nostalgic?_ Hilbert thought to himself.

…

Hilbert decided to talk first, "Can I ask you something?"

…

Ash simply stared.

…

Hilbert continued, "What is this "Pokemon Master" thing, anyway?"

…

Ash looked down.

"Let me guess, you came up with yourself when you were little, without considering how you would actually achieve that title."

…

Ash kept staring down at his shoes.

…

Hilbert didn't know why, but he kept going.

"You see, kid, having a "shooting for the stars" kinda dream is fine when you're a kid, but that kind of thing makes growing up a lot harder. You can't shoot for those kinds of dreams without some sort of plan and, even then…"

Hilbert started walking passed Ash over to the hat he threw,

"...your dream doesn't have an endgame. You don't even know what being a "Pokemon Master" or whatever really means."

Hilbert picked up the hat.

…

"You're just setting yourself up for disappointment doing that."

 _I should know._ He thought.

Ash's head was shaking.

Hilbert now realized what about Ash was so familiar.

"Chasing dreams that'll never come true is pointless." He said.

"You don't know what your dream is, and so that means you can never achieve it."

…

…

Ash started tearing up.

…

"But…"

Ash looked up.

"...that doesn't mean you just run away from everything and whine about it!" He shouted.

Ash almost jumped in surprise.

The older trainer was staring at him intensely.

Ash loosened his tensity and listened.

Hilbert sighed and calmed down.

He turned and looked at Ash.

He then continued.

"...You can't just stop and not try to become better. I… knew some whiny brat who tried that, and he ended up a sad, sad… sad mess."

Hilbert looked down and pondered his next choice of words.

Ash had still not spoken.

Hilbert gave up trying to come up with the right words and just blurted out what sounded right.

"But that's an easy fix!" Hilbert explained.

 _I know what I have to do._

Ash stared at the trainer, confused.

"Wh-what do you mean?" He finally asked.

…

"All you need to do is to answer the question I asked you before, but with one more layer added to it."

"Huh?"

Hilbert walked over to Ash.

"What is a "Pokemon Master"..."

He tapped the hat to Ash's forehead.

"...to you?"

…

…

…

"That's just it." Ash said, on the verge of tears again, "I don't know what it means, and I don't want to know!"

He wiped his nose.

"I just wanted to keep making friends and…"

He was interrupted by Hilbert smacking him over the head with his hat.

"YOU IDIOT!"

"Ow…" Ash moaned as he looked up at the face of the now comically angry trainer staring back him.

"WHEN THE HECK DID I SAY YOU COULDN'T DO THAT?! You're a good kid! You make friends without even trying! And you've got awesome determination on top of that! Your only real downside is how mopey you are! When you lose you feel like you have to rethink everything which just puts you back in the same place as before!"

Hilbert placed his hand on top of Ash's head.

He then pulled Ash's head to be face to face with his own.

He then spoke.

"Trust me, you don't want to turn into the kind of person who gives up before they can even try. In order for me to help you become a Pokémon Master, you need to show me what a Pokemon Master is." He told him.

"Wha-? You mean you're-"

Hilbert let go of his head.

"Tell you what…" Hilbert said as he put the hat back on and pointed at it, "Once you can beat me in a full-blown Pokemon battle, I'll give you this hat back, and you'll give me mine back. Then, and only then, will I, ever consider you a Pokemon Master."

Ash stared at the trainer as the sun started to rise.

"Well? How's that sound? All you need to do is beat a cheating jerk at his own game."

…

…

…

Ash walked over to his bag and reached into it.

He pulled out a hat.

Hilbert's hat.

Ash then looked at Hilbert. He put the black and white hat on. He nodded.

Hilbert adjusted the red hat he wore.

 _Maybe I can help this kid go down a different path than I did._

The two then looked up at the sunrise.

...

Unown to them, Luna had seen their entire encounter from her hiding place amongst the bushes. The scene that had played out in front of her was rather heartwarming in ways, despite her lack of knowledge.

She smiled.

Then, suddenly, a vision injected itself into her head.

What she saw confused her. Unlike her other vision, this one occurred while she was awake, and it was much more fractured and clouded.

Many scenes of trainers fighting for their lives and losing loved ones flashed by before she could understand them. The only scenes she could understand were two people facing each other, as if they were ready to battle, in different scenarios.

The first was in an arena in what looked like Alola.

The second was on a plateau, surrounded by unfamiliar people.

The third was in another arena, except it had a giant, cracked broadcasting screen and much less people in the stands.

Then, in the final scene, one of the trainers was standing alone, atop of a mountain.

Then, as if to fill the void of the other trainer, a new one appeared. This was was clear for her to see, with a red hoodie and gold cap that was turned around.

Luna passed out in the bushes.

"Did you hear something?" Ash asked.

…

"Okay, we all ready?" Kiawe asked.

Mallow, Lana, Lillie and Spoploplges nodded. They had snuck out of the center and were ready to leave on their operation, even without Ash.

"Okay, then let's move out!" He ordered as the group left on their rescue mission.

... **TO BE CONTINUED**


	15. No More Walls

"...Alright then…" Ilima said, slightly taken aback by these strange individuals, "If I could get your gentlemen's attention…"

"THE HECK DID HE JUST CALL ME?! Brendan yelled, about to rush the 12 year-old.

"Wha-"

"Don't call him "gentleman" either, it ticks him off… apparently." Lucas added while barely holding Brendan back.

"You two certainly know each other quite well. And you're rather… excitable." Ilima observed as the two older trainers struggled.

After Brendan had finally calmed down, Ilima finally explained what he wanted to talk to them about.

And what he said freaked them out considerably.

"Umm… sorry, kid, could you repeat that? I'm just...having a little trouble hearing today." Lucas asked, nervously.

"Ye-yeah," Brendan agreed, "me too."

"I said that I need to talk to that Hilbert fellow you two are always hanging around. The Gumshoos in charge of the Normalium Z trial and one of the crystals is missing and we think that he knows where it is."

…

"Well, he's just in th-" Brendan was immediately cut off by Lucas grabbing his face and pushing him to the ground.

"Are… you two alright?" Ilima asked.

"Just… give us a moment!" Lucas said, struggling to keep Brendan on the ground.

The two whispered up a plan.

"We can't just tell him that Hilbert stole it!" Lucas said.

"But I thought we wanted Hilbert to get in trouble?" Brendan reminded.

"Yeah, but if Hilbert gets in trouble for stealing something, then they'll connect to US, making our punishment even worse!" Lucas explained.

"Can't we just say that we had nothing to do with it?"

"Do you really think Hilbert's gonna let that happen?

"..."

"Thought so."

"Well then what are we supposed to do? Challenge him to a Pokemon battle so that whoever wins has to give the other information?" Brendan suggested.

"Well we- wait, that's a great idea!"

"That's a great idea?"

"That's a great idea! ...Wait, that's a great idea? That's a great idea! Where'd you get that idea?"

"I read it in "Hilbert's book of excuses for when you want something and the person's being a stingy bastard!""

"That's a book that exists?"

"It's written by Hilbert."

"Oooh. ...Wait, you can READ?!"

"Shut up."

…

After some… slightly aggressive planning, Lucas stood to face Ilima. So their plan was for one of them to battle Ilima to a 1-v-1 match to stall him as the other warned Hilbert and came up with a plan.

Ilima agreed, mostly because he wanted to see the power of these trainers who got the Kahunas so riled up with his own eyes.

Unfortunately, things started to arie after that.

"Go, Chimchar!" Lucas sent out his Pokemon. Chimchar popped out of the Pokeball and landed on the ground.

"You sure about this?" Brendan asked his partner-in-crime, quietly. He was wondering how well Chimchar would listen to Lucas.

"If either one of us has the chance to beat him, it's me. Since I know that Chimchar's been bred and is probably at a higher level than your Dewpider." Lucas assured.

"Fine." Brendan obeyed, slightly miffed that he wouldn't get to test Dewpider's skills.

Ilima pulled out a Pokeball and threw it.

"Come on out, Smeargle!" He called. A Smeargle plopped onto the ground and started twirling its tail with its finger.

Ilima stared at the Chimchar placed before his Smeargle. He looked slightly annoyed.

"I was under the assumption you were an experienced trainer. Are you going easy on me?"

"Kid, if I actually used my strong Pokemon against that little thing, this wouldn't be a battle. It wouldn't even be a warm-up." Lucas scoffed, which made Ilima look even more annoyed, "I'll take you down with this one Chimchar and I'll do it quickly."

 _There's no point in explaining the situation to this brat. If he wasn't studious enough to do his research properly, then I don't want or need his pity._

Just as he thought that, however, Lucas has just realized that Chimchar was no longer on the field.

"Wait, WHAT!?"

Chimchar was now running into the woods.

 _This again…_ Brendan thought, his rage building.

"Hey! Come back!" Lucas called. But Chimchar simply kept running. "Rrrgh! Now what?"

Lucas then felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Just go get him. I got this." Brendan said.

"But I-" Lucas was cut off before he could even argue.

"LOOK AT ME!" Brendan faced him, his eyes staring intensely into Lucas.

"That Chimchar's never gonna listen to you if all you do is wall it up and send it out whenever you need it! It needs you to prove yourself, not just as a trainer, but as a person."

"This again? Why does this subject tick you off so much?" Lucas asked, still ignorant, "I own it. It should be-"

"LISTEN! I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS! I THOUGHT YOU WERE DIFFERENT, BUT THAT CHIMCHAR IS PROVING ME WRONG!" Brendan turned Lucas and grabbed his shoulders, "Do you even care about the Pokemon that you lost, or was that just an inconvenience for you?"

"I-" Lucas knew what answer was wrong, but couldn't say the right one, "You know the answer to that."

Brendan shook Lucas.

"That Chimchar isn't just gonna let you get away with that crap, and neither am I! Pokemon aren't things that you own! I thought that a genius like you could understand that at least!"

Brendan turned Lucas around and gave him a small shove. Lucas turned to see his rival, pointing at him.

"Go and prove to me you're not one of those ass-hats who use Pokemon like tools. Got it?!"

Lucas was impressed and annoyed at how persistent Brendan was being about this.

The two looked at each other. Lucas was trying to read Brendan, Brendan already having read his pages. But he couldn't open the book.

…

"Fine." Lucas mumbled as he turned and ran in the direction of the Chimchar, leaving the book to be read another day.

"Layin a little heavy on the metaphors there, aren't we?"

Shut up Hilbert.

Ilima stared at Brendan as he walked over to face him.

"That seemed like the ending of a conversation." He said, looking over at Brendan, hoping for some more insight.

"Oh, please." Brendan scoffed, "I've been mad about the way that guy sees things since the moment I met him." He swung his arm in a circle, warming up.

"So why stick around him?" Ilima asked.

"It's like a battle for us." Brendan smirked, "If one of us backs down, the other wins."

...

Lucas ran to hunt down Chimchar. But after a few minutes passed, he slowed down to a walk. He calculated the worth of chasing down a seemingly defective Pokemon.

What did he have to gain from this? It wasn't like that Chimchar was going to listen to him even if he found him. What was the point of this? He could just as easily catch a new Pokemon that would work for him, correctly.

 _That idiot Brendan doesn't understand the difficulty of having to deal with something that won't listen to you. I can't lose something so important, something that I've built up for almost 6 years._

He started walking faster, with little regard for what direction he was going in.

 _Thats right! I have it the worst! I have the most to lose if I can't find my Pokemon! I don't need something that hurts my progress more than it helps it. I should just cut my losses and start again from scratch._

Then he froze.

…

…

…

Just cut your losses, and start over.

…

He had heard those words before.

…

When they referred to him.

…

He realized what he was becoming.

…

He knew a man once that had those exact thoughts about him.

Someone who discarded him the second he stepped out of line.

A man who lost all of his emotions to reach a goal.

A man who cut all of his ties to his family and friends, just because he was too stubborn to let things go.

A man who didn't care for anything other than himself.

…

And suddenly, Lucas understood Chimchar all too well.

He wasn't a Pokemon Trainer, he was a collector. All he cared for was finding every Pokemon in existence.

That was his issue.

Lucas had often struggled against trainers like Brendan and Hilbert, trainers who knew every single aspect of their Pokemon and used those aspects to their advantage. While Lucas was a brilliant strategist when it came to battles, he could never bring out a Pokemon's unique potential like Hilbert, or inspire his Pokemon like Brendan. That was something he had to change. And Chimchar was his chance to change that.

The problem was, he didn't know if he could change.

But he had to try. The only way he was going to find his Pokemon and become the first person to ever complete the Pokedex, was by becoming a true Pokemon trainer. Or something… even more.

Lucas knew what to do. He ran off into the woods after Chimchar, a new wave of determination flowing through him.

 _Heh, I can't believe that idiot's ranting actually worked._

…

Brendan faced down Ilima. He wasn't yet certain how he would pull off a victory, but he was pumped up, nonetheless.

"Go, Dewpider!" Brendan pulled out his Pokeball and threw it.

Dewpider landed on the ground and wobbled slightly from the impact.

Ilima was now very miffed.

"Are all of you underestimating me?" He asked.

"I don't know, you show me!" Brendan replied.

Ilima grunted. He felt mocked at this point.

"I'll have you know, I'm the trial captain of-" His speech was interrupted by Brendan.

"Stop talking! I don't care!"

Following Lucas's lead, Brendan kept stringing Ilima along to see if he was as prestigious as his demeanour would let on. They wanted to see this trainer prove himself to them, just as much as he wanted them to do the same.

Just because he was an older student, didn't mean they weren't going to teach him a lesson.

"Listen, kid. I don't care a whole lot about what words say." Brendan grasped his fist in front of his chest, "I'd rather you show me how strong you are!"

Ilima was still annoyed, but he understood. This Brendan wanted a battle, not an exchange of titles. A battle, a show-and-tell between trainers to prove their skills to one another. He knew he would have to show this arrogant trainer his true power if he was to be taken seriously. Titles didn't matter to him, strength did.

"Alright! LET'S GET THIS PARTY STAR-" Now Brendan was interrupted by a small stone knocking Brendan in the head.

"Ow! Where did-" Brendan looked around to see a familiar face from a distance…

Hilbert.

"Ladies, ladies! Please! Be a little gentler with your cheering!" Hilbert said.

"I don't hear any cheering ladies, Hilbert." Ash pointed out.

"Don't ruin my fantasies, Ketchum." Hilbert replied.

"It's okay! I'll cheer for you!" Luna comforted.

"Don't patronize me, weirdo!"

"HILBERT?!" Brendan asked in surprise.

"HILBERT?!" Ilima asked, also in surprise.

"ASH!?" Brendan also asked once he noticed him, "What're you guys doing here? Where've you been?"

"Long story! Don't care enough to explain." Hilbert explained as he and Ash ran over. Hilbert signaled Brendan into a whispering conversation.

"You're the one who stole the Z-Crystal!" Ilima accused.

Hilbert stared at him with a very annoyed glare that peered into Ilima's soul.

"You really have no manners, do you? What a shame!" He said, mockingly.

Ilima grunted and was about to try his hand at a comeback before being completely ignored.

"I noticed that you were about to battle, so I decided to pop in with some useful items!" Hilbert said to Brendan.

"Huh?" Brendan asked, dreadfully confused.

"Take a look at that rock I threw at you." Hilbert pointed to the stone in question.

Brendan looked down and almost fell over in surprise.

It was the Normalium Z!

"We've been going around town finding TMs!" Ash whispered excitedly.

"Exactly! Specifically Normal-Type moves!" Hilbert elaborated on his plan for Brendan to win.

He and Ash had slept outside after their battle, helped Luna after they found her, and had spent the morning looking for Normal-Type TMs to take advantage of the Z-Crystal they had.

"We found a couple, but I'm pretty sure the only one we found that works on Dewpider is this one." He handed Brendan a grey disc.

Brendan was still terribly confused as to what was going on.

"Don't worry! I know you can do this!" Luna encouraged.

"Do… what, exactly?"

"Brendan, Brendan, level with for a sec. You don't want an unfair loss just because your Pokemon were stolen, do you?"

"...No."

"So I'm giving you the chance to battle this kid on a more even playing field!"

"... I feel like I should be asking why-" Brendan asked.

"Come on! When have I ever been wrong!"

…

"Don't answer that."

…

Any of you."

…

"I MEAN IT!"

…

As Hilbert, Ash, and Luna explained the plan to Brendan and his Dewpider, Ilima had lost all of his patience.

"Are we going to battle, or what?"

"You got it, Llama man!" Brendan turned to finally face his opponent.

Dewpider was also ready.

"Get prepared for the biggest turnaround of the season, folks!" Hilbert announced to mostly no one.

Then the battle finally began.

…

"You're gonna have another cliff-hanger, aren't you?"

Hey, it builds tension.

"..."

…

"..."

...Shut up.

…

Meanwhile, the group of students had arrived at the cave where they saw the container of Pokémon land over.

The cave was dark and damp. There were scurrying Pokémon all around, only barely kept away by the presence of Kiawe's Turtanator.

"Are we there yet?" Splolpeges asked as the group headed further into the cave. His Togedemaru did its best to keep him energized, while lighting the way for the group.

"Come on Sophocles, you can do it." Lillie encouraged quietly.

As they walked, a faint sound started coming from further inside the cave.

"I hear Pokémon noises." Lana said as she and her Popplio ran ahead to inspect.

"Lana, wait!" Mallow called out as she and the rest of the group ran after her, Solple bringing up the rear.

The entire group of students stopped where Lana had. Once Sofolf came with the light his Togedemaru emitted, the room they had entered became brighter.

They then saw a frail figure lying on the ground of the cave, twitching and writhing in pain.

"Um, hello?" Mallow called out to the figure.

It slowly turned to them, surprised at their arrival.

"Who are you?" Sol asked, coldly.

NEXT TIME: SWAGGER


	16. Swagger

"Who are you?" Sol asked, coldly.

The young group of trainers decided to proceed with caution. Mallow seemed worried about the boy that was slumped over with burn marks all over his body. Lana was skeptical, still looking for the Pokemon she had heard earlier. Lillie was mostly just scared out of her wits. Kiawe did his best to try and comfort her (don't get any ideas), but to little avail. Sopl-Frank. Frank was observing the boy with his device.

"We're just a group of kids from the Pokemon School." Mallow answered, trying to get the boy to warm up to them and get closer.

Sol simply sat, his dead stare unchanging. He sat with his back against the wall of the cave and one of his arms across his body, holding the other. He was as defensive as he could possibly be.

Mallow ignored the ghastly stare he gave her and was about to walk over until Frank stopped her.

"Mallow, wait. There's something up with this guy." he said.

"Come on, Sophocles, that's a little rude, isn't it? We shouldn't judge him by his appearance!"

"That's not it." Frank explained, "For some reason, he's showing up on my PokeDex…"

"Wait, really?! What does it say?" Mallow asked, now curious.

"I'm not sure…" Frank said, puzzled over the situation. His Pokedex was clearly trying to identify the boy, but couldn't because of it's constant static.

As they were observing and arguing, Lana walked towards Sol, keeping to his side. She stared at him. After a moment, Sol tore his gaze from Mallow and stared back at Lana.

"You wouldn't happen to have seen some Pokemon trapped in a container around here, have you?"

Sol still remained silent.

"Some swamp Pokémon?"

No response.

"Maybe even a Pikachu?"

Still no response.

"Not speaking will only make you look more guilty, you know." Lana explained, about to walk towards Sol.

Mallow stepped between them.

"Lana! What's gotten into you?! He's hurt! Stop interrogating him!"

"But Mallow... these readings…" Frank mentioned.

"Maybe that things just broken, ok? Anyway…"

Mallow then turned to Sol. She smiled, trying to comfort him.

"What's the matter? Are you hurt?" She asked.

She looked over at the arm that he was hiding.

"Is that… poison?"

Sol turned to his side to hide the injury.

"Oh… that's what's wrong."

Mallow then rummaged through her bag.

 _I need to escape to master Lusamine!_ Sol thought. _But how..._

Then he saw her. The girl in a white dress and hat, slumped against a corner, squeezing her Vulpix. She bore a striking resemblance to…

...no, it couldn't be.

 _Why would master help me at a time like this? She just gave me that new weapon_. _I don't require her assistance. I don't require… any… assistance._

"Here."

Sol turned to Mallow once again.

She held out a small, pink fruit.

"It's a Pecha Berry. This works better on Pokemon, but it might help ease the pain for a bit, at least until we can patch you up."

...

CHAPTER 13: SWAGGER

Lucas wandered through the forest. He didn't have much idea where Chimchar was at all. While he did try making educated guesses, he was still mostly shooting in the dark as to what direction to go in.

 _Dammit,_ he thought. _Where the heck did that thing go?_

He was answered by the sound of what, to him, sounded like a man and woman who were very questionable about their level of maturity and their sexuality.

"Prepare for trouble!" The woman said.

"And make it double!" The man said.

You know the rest.

Lucas simply stared at the horrendously off-putting display for a solid minute before his brain kicked in and remembered what he was doing.

 _So these are the thieves that injured Brendan._ Lucas thought. He considered probing them on the whereabouts of the missing Pokemon, but observed that they didn't seem to posses them at the moment.

"We've been hurled into the dirt by a very rude boy, but we're still fighting like the champions we know we are! NOW GIVE US YOUR POKEMON!" James, the blue haired man, yelled triumphantly.

It was clear to Lucas that the man was trying to sound intimidating, but it was difficult to take him seriously as his clothes were tattered and his head was being gnawed on by a Marienie. Lucas considered inspecting the new Pokemon, but saw that it was rather...

"Marienie please! Stop! I'm starting pass out! No, not the eyeballs! NOT THE EYEBALLS! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

...attached.

"I'm sorry, I don't have any Pokemon on me right now." Lucas stated, promptly.

"Is that so?" Jessie, the woman with pink swirled hair, asked. She didn't believe him.

"Wobbafet!" The Wobbafet cried in it's stunningly serene voice.

"That's right! Let's search'em!" Meowth, the… Meowth suggested.

Lucas sighed at their stupidity.

 _What's it going to take to get rid of these morons?_

"Wait a minute…" Meowth interrupted. "Aren't you surprised that I can talk?"

"Yes, that's right." James added after finally managing to pry off his Marienie. "This phenomenon is quite a rare one indeed. I would've expected a larger reaction, similar to most."

"I mean, I'm not fishing for compliments, or nuthin…" Meowth stated, blushing.

"Oh, that's… rare in these parts?" Lucas asked, as Meowth looked slightly heartbroken.

Then, Lucas heard the familiar cry of a familiar Pokemon. He forgot the conversation and started searching frantically.

"Charr!"

"Oh?" Jessie looked at the Chimchar within a cage behind them. "Is this little one yours?"

Lucas was wondering how she made that distinction. Chimchar looked like it was trying to get away from Lucas, much less excited that he was there.

He didn't say anything.

"AHHAHAHA! Well isn't this a perfect scenario?" Jessie laughed as she picked up the cage.

"Tell you what, older twerp, we'll let this fire-breathing brat go if you give us something more… obedient." She held the cage up to Lucas.

 _So that's where those burns came from._

Lucas pondered for a moment. While it was clear that these people were idiots, he was also at a disadvantage since he had zero Pokemon with him. But he needed to get Chimchar back. What else did he have on him that could help…

 _That's it!_

"Alright, fine. You got me."

Lucas pulled out the last remaining Pokeball Kukui gave them.

"What's that for?" Meowth asked.

"In here there's an extremely powerful Pokemon. I'll give you this one if you give me back Chimchar."

The three and Wobbafet shuffled over and observed the ball.

"Sounds interesting…" Jessie admitted.

"But why would such a powerful creature be captured in a measly Pokeball?" James questioned.

 _So they're not total idiots_.

"It was bred. My family owns the GAPP."

"What does clothing have to do with this?" Jessie asked.

"It stands for Genetically Altering Pokemon Project! You morons!"

"Oh…" James understood.

"Here…"

Lucas showed the inside of his wallet, which, while depressingly low on funds, contained things like a driver's license, an airport pass, and other inconspicuous forms of ID. One of the visible cards read "Lucas Akagi: GAPP VIP."

"OH MY GOODNESS OF GRACIOUSNESS, HE'S A MAN OF HIGHER POWER!" James REALLY understood.

 _How the hell did Brendan lose to these morons?_

"I'm still not buyin it!" The Meowth denied. "You're just bluffin!"

"Oh? And would you rather I use it against you?" Lucas replied.

Now Team Rocket were the ones who felt at a disadvantage, with their clothes and Pokemon in tatters.

Lucas sighed. "Look, I don't want to cause a massive mess, I'm in debt now as is. I'll admit, this Pokemon isn't an Arceus or anything, but it's still powerful. I'd rather get rid of it then have it ruin my plans more."

"Really? What Pokemon is it?" Jessie asked.

"It doesn't have a name yet, it's undiscovered." Lucas answered.

The three huddled and discussed.

"There's no way that twerp is telling the truth!" Jessie assumed. "A Pokemon that hasn't been discovered? Please!"

"But he did say he has relations to the owners of the GAPP. Those cards are next to impossible to fake. Not many people even know of it's existence. That might also explain his low reaction to a creature such as Meowth. Of course, we as Team Rocket know of it, due to those recent attacks." James explained. "But just in case, I'd rather not be at the firing end of one the beasts that gets created there."

"I'm with James on this one." Meowth said.

"Wobbafet." Wobbafet agreed, hoping it's soothing, angelic voice could convince its trainer to reconsider.

 _They seriously think I can't hear them?_

Lucas sighed again.

"You guys are part of the criminal organization Team Rocket, aren't you?" Lucas asked.

"What of it?" Meowth asked.

"Well, I've heard about you guys. Apparently your boss had his goons start attacking GAPP facilities not too long ago. Probably looking for some powerful, genetically altered Pokemon."

"And what's your point?" Meowth asked, hopping out of the huddle.

"Well, I'd assume folks like you who work for him would want to please him with a present like this. You know, considering his recent antics."

The three plus Wobbafet looked at eachother for a moment.

"Alright, then. If you don't want it I-"

"WE'LL TAKE IT!" The three said in unison with Wobbafet, appropriately saving it's godly ascension of a speech pattern for another time.

Jessie quickly handed over the cage to Lucas, snatching the Pokeball afterwards.

"OOOOHHH! Now let's see what kind of masterful creature we've acquired!" Jessie yipped, excitedly.

"I wonder what we should name it." James pondered. "James jr?"

"No, that's stupid!" Jessie argued. "This sweetie should be called something like… 'Little Jessie."

"That's just as stupid as mine!"

"Shut up! We can name it after we see what it looks like, ya dig?" Meowth snapped.

James and Jessie thought about it, then nodded in agreement.

"Alright then, moment of truth time!" Meowth said, building it up.

Meowth slowly…

… yet surely…

… moved…

… his…

… little…

… furry…

… han-paw, sorry, paw…

… slowly…

… towards…

… the…

… area…

… of …

… which…

… th-

"CAN WE GET THIS OVER WITH?!"

Okay, fine! Jeez…

Meowth pressed the button of the Pokeball. The ball opened up, revealing that there was nothing inside.

…

"Is… it… invisible?" James asked.

"RRGGHH! YOU TWERP TRICKED US!" Jessie growled.

It was only then that the three realized that Lucas was long gone.

"NOOOOOOOO!"

…

…

"Come on!" Enough screwing around, Llama! Let's get this battle started!" Brendan yelled. "Dewy! Use Bubble!"

Dewpider obeyed and blew a stream of bubbles toward Ilima's Smeargle.

"You're rather impatient, aren't you?" Ilima observed as he calmly ordered Smeargle to dodge.

"Out of the way now, Smeargle."

Smeargle jumped in the air to avoid the bubbles.

"Now, use Leafage!"

Smeargle grabbed its tail as it turned green. It then swiped its tail at Dewpider, sending small bits of leaves shooting towards the Pokemon.

"Dewy! Counter it with Bubble!"

Dewpider understood and fired more bubbles upwards.

While they weren't stopped outright, the leaves became wet as they popped the bubbles. By the time it got to Dewpider, the Leafage had turned to a group of wet leaves falling harmlessly on the ground.

Smeargle did the same afterwards.

"Impressive. You stopped the leaves by making them wet. You're not as dumb as you look." Ilima complimented.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Brendan replied, insulted.

"Nothing at all, I'm simply complimenting your strategy. A Trial Captain such as myself wouldn't stoop to an insulting level."

"Oh. Ok."

"Don't just- ugh, nevermind." Hilbert called from the sidelines.

"Smeargle, Tackle!" Ilima said quickly.

"Quick, Dewy. Move!" Brendan demanded in response.

There was just enough space between the two to give Dewpider enough time to move to the side without spilling its water. However, now the two Pokemon were incredibly close.

"Now, use Leafage!" Ilima yelled to Smeargle.

Smeargle landed, grabbed its tail and turned around in the time it took Dewpider to balance itself, just before taking a direct hit. The leaves jammed into Dewpider, flying through its bubble, causing it to spill about a cup's worth of water.

"Dewy, quick! Use Bubble!" Brendan ordered.

However, Dewpider couldn't position itself properly before Smeargle once again jumped out of the way, landing close to Ilima.

"Dang it!" Brendan grunted.

"This battle's gonna be tough. Dewpider can't land a hit no matter how close Smeargle is." Ash mentioned.

"Come on Ketchum, have a bit more faith!" Hilbert said in response.

"But…" Ash still seemed worried.

Hilbert chuckled and turned back to the battle.

 _While he's being a massive emo, I can understand his worries. That Dewpider of Brendan's obviously has really poor physical defence. Smeargles aren't exactly known for their physical strength either, but this Dewpider is unnaturally brittle. And that Smeargle's got some speed. All it needs to do is dish out a few Tackles and Dewpider's done. But…_

"Listen to me Ketchum." Hilbert ordered out loud.

"Huh?"

"Brendan'll manage." He explained.

"What makes you so sure?"

Hilbert pointed at Dewpider.

"Take a look."

Just as he said that, Dewpider crouched and readied itself.

"I don't get it." Luna asked.

"Neither of you were around for this, but yesterday, that little droopy, water bug could barely stand without tipping over. Now it's managing to move around quick enough to dodge that speedy Smeargle."

Ash and Luna looked again.

"Smeargle, Leafage!" Ilima ordered, yet again.

Smeargle again swung its tail to shoot its pesky leaves at Dewpider.

"Dewy, get outta the way and use Bubble!"

Dewpider obliged. This time, it sprung into action, jumping out of the way of the Leafage, taking a quick moment to stabilize itself, then firing it's bubbles. Even as Smeargle tried to dodge, a few of the bubbles touched him, causing damaging mini-explosions. It wasn't much, but they had landed a small blow.

"You see, Brendan may be a bit dense, but he's probably one of the strongest trainers I've ever met."

The amount of praise in that one sentence was so seemingly out of place for Hilbert that Ash and Luna just stared at him in shock.

"Are you… ok?" Ash asked.

"Oh, knock it off! I meant that in a more literal sense." Hilbert whined, waving at them to stop staring.

"Seriously, though. As much as either me or Lucas hate to admit it, Brendan's actually really good at knowing the ins and outs of every Pokemon he comes across. After barely a day with the thing, he knew the exact way to train Dewpider in order for it to overcome its balance issues. Without Brendan, I'm not sure that little guy could've survived half a day outside of the lake. Brendan trained it both directly and indirectly, pretending like he forgot about it on walks when he was really helping it get stronger legs. Combine that intense training with the strategy we came up with, he's got a real shot at winning this."

…

Luna and Ash were still staring at Hilbert, slack-jawed.

"Just keep watching the battle, you dimwits."

"Ok." They said in unison.

"But what kind of strategy did you guys come up with?" Ash asked.

"Well, maybe if you just shut yer stupid 10-year old trap for once, YOU'D FIND OUT!"

"...You've been doing a lot more talking than m-"

"SHUT UP KETCHUM! I AM ANGRY, THEREFORE I AM RIGHT!"

"So… can I be angry?" Luna asked, genuinely.

"No yo- wait, what kind of question was that even?"

Back at the battle, Brendan decided to finally put the plan to use.

"I really hope this works, Hilbert!" he called back.

"Come on! This is me we're talking about! Course it's gonna work!" Hilbert reassured.

Brendan ignored Hilbert's sarcastic cheering and went ahead.

"NOW! IT. IS. TIIIIIIIIMMMEEE! ARE YOU PREPARED FOR THIS, LLAMA BOY?!" Brendan screamed.

Ilima's mind raced to find out what they were planning.

 _What is this? Secret Ability? Z-Move? Mega Evolution?_

"DEWY!"

"Here it comes!" Hilbert yelled.

"LET'S…"

"This is pretty exciting!" Luna chirped.

"USE…"

"Alright! Go Dewy!" Ash cheered.

"SWAGGER!"

…

…

…

Dewpider did the closest thing it could manage to puffing out its chest, followed by a tiny head wiggle, topped off with a little spin. It then wobbled in place for about 10 seconds.

…

…

…

"Hm…" Hilbert observed. "Nice try, little guy. I could tell the effort was there, but you need a lot more 'swag' and a lot less 'ger.'"

…

A sweat drop slid down Brendan's forehead.

 _This is wayyy not my kinda strategy, but Hilbert's right. It's my best chance if I really want to win._ He thought.

Ash was still impressed for some reason and Luna was simply cooing at the admittedly cute attempt of the Dewpider trying to seem intimidating.

Ilima stared, his perfectly calm face finally showing some wrinkles.

"That's your incredible strategy?" He asked.

"You got that right!" Brendan answered.

"Now, not only will Smeargle's attacks be easier to dodge, but he'll take damage without Dewpider needing to risk taking a hit!" Hilbert explained.

Ilima chuckled.

"Heh, I'll admit it's a… creative battle plan, but aren't you forgetting that Swagger also causes the offence of the other Pokemon to rise drastically? I'm not sure that little Dewpider could handle even one attack of that caliber." He pointed out, smugly.

"Hey, Dewpider could take all of that punishment and more!"

"Fine then, prove it! Smeargle, try and use Tackle!"

 _Will it hit or will it not work?_ Brendan thought.

Smeargle was now wobblier than Dewpider, though it still managed to push off the ground and rush for another attack. However this time, Dewpider didn't even need to dodge. Smeargle went zooming past Dewpider, Brendan, and the three bystanders all in a row.

Ash, Luna, and Hilbert all turned just in time to watch the Pokemon zip past them and into the forest.

A loud 'bonk' came from the direction it flew in.

…

"That's perfectly fine, Smeargle. Just jump back here." Ilima directed.

After a moment, Smeargle came out of the forest, dazed and with a lump on its forehead.

It slowly walked passed Ash and wobbled its way to the battlefield.

"Quick, Dewy! Before it comes to! Use Spider Web!" Brendan pointed at the Smeargle.

Dewpider obeyed and fired a strand of web fluid at the Smeargle, tangling it up.

"Now, just like me…" Brendan made the familiar motion of him reeling in with his fishing rod.

Dewpider understood.

"Now…" Brendan thrust his arms up in the air. "THROW!"

Dewpider copied his motion and lifted Smeargle up the air, slamming it on the ground behind it. Its water bubble jiggled with the impact.

"Wow!" Ash gasped. "That was awesome!"

"Didn't think the little guy had it in him!" Hilbert said in agreement.

"Go, Dewy!" Luna cheered.

Ilima was starting to get very annoyed.

Hilbert could see this.

And it excited him.

 _Considering that Dewpider's level, I knew it couldn't have any physical attacking moves. Even so, this physical strength is astonishing to say the least. This Brendan definitely knows how to train his Pokémon._

"I'll admit, you've surprised me with how resilient you are. But a Trial Captain such as myself is not going to lose to a weakling Pokémon, no matter how well it's been trained." Ilima stated.

"Heh, thanks. But you're still the one who's gonna lose, kid!" Brendan mentioned.

Hilbert decided to barge in.

"Hey Brendan, could you hurry this up? I'm starting to get tired of listening to this kid's smug preaching." He said, tapping his wrist.

"Excuse me?" Ilima asked in shock.

"Oh boy, here we go…" Ash and Luna said in unison. Hilbert had interrupted the match for one of his… special lessons.

"Yeah, kid. This is getting old. I'd like to able to watch this battle without hearing your smart-ass comments all the way through. Especially since you're clearly starting to lose." Hilbert explained, walking until he was next to Brendan.

"What are you doing, Hilbert?" Brendan asked.

Hilbert whispered.

"Testing him." He said.

Brendan looked over at Ilima.

He understood and let Hilbert speak.

Ilima's face was clearly turning redder.

"Who's being smug right now? I assure you, delinquent, that a Trial Captain is supposed to carry themselves humbly." He stated, doing his best to keep his composure.

"Enough of that Trial Captain junk. You shouldn't have to constantly remind me of your position to convince me of it. And yeah, I'm pretty smug, but at least I don't act it up when I'm losing. I don't need the respect of people I don't care about."

Ash noticed that Hilbert was, for once, telling the truth. In their battle, Hilbert never acted high and mighty towards Ash, at least not when it came to battling. He knew when he was at a disadvantage with no way around it and how to act accordingly, rare as that scenario was.

"I've got you figured out, Llama boy."

"Prove it." Ilima was starting to steam.

"We-"

"I got this." Brendan, interrupted Hilbert.

"I understand ya, kid. I looked into Trial Captains a bit before coming to Alola, so I have an idea about what it means to be one. You're one of, if not the youngest current Trial Captain. While you got there from your skill and book smarts, you always felt like the other Trial Captains looked down upon you. And now you feel the need to constantly remind everyone of that instead of teaching them to be better trainers, you know, like what these Trial Captain people are supposed to do. Trust me, I know how annoying being looked down on can feel. But a title shouldn't be what defines your strength."

Brendan put his hand over his chest.

"It's your own strength combined with your Pokémon's!"

…

"What he said. Cliches and all." Hilbert added.

Ilima was dumbfounded. He had pinned this Brendan as an oaf, but he had figured out his personal struggle almost to the tee. Was it something that he understood? Did he see into Ilima's mind during the battle?

 _Brendan, eh?_ He thought.

"Oh, can I add one more thing?' Hilbert asked.

"This isn't gonna end well." Brendan mentioned.

"You… actually catch on quick, Brendan."

"Even a moron like me can see where this is going. You have have a samey affect on a lot of people."

"What was he going to say?" Ilima asked.

"Your sweater-vest is dumb."

…

…

…

Ilima was now furious with Hilbert. A very cartoonish puff of smoke billowed from his head.

"Translation: He's really tired of this sh**."

Hilbert!

"What? I can't be proud of the fact that I broke one the most annoyingly smug people I've ever met?"

Did you have this strategy planned out so you could help Brendan, or just so could piss off Ilima even more?

"...Welllllllll… you could say it was a bit of both."

"THAT. IS. IT." Ilima stated from the other side of the field. "I HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR FOOLISH TROLL-PLAY, MR. HILBERT!"

"Troll-play?" Hilbert asked.

Luna put her finger to the side of her head and turned it. "Welp, he's gone loopy."

"It's almost like someone used Swagger on him." Ash pointed out.

"Aww, Ketchum! Are you saying it was my 'Swagger' that knocked him off balance?"

…

…

Hilbert… just… no

"YOU WORTHLESS INGRATE! FIRST YOU STEAL FROM ME, THEN YOU INJURE MY POKEMON, THEN YOU INSULT ME AND PLAY MY SUFFERING UP FOR LAUGHS! WHY? WHY DO YOU DEEM ALL OF THIS NECESSARY?!"

"Well, Llama boy, there's a very simple reason for that." Hilbert replied.

…

"...And?" Ilima asked, three seconds from another blow-up.

"Cause I'm a jerk. ...I'm pretty sure that's been well-established now, don't you guys agree?"

They all nodded.

Ilima was not happy with this. His calm composure was completely gone and replaced by pure rage, which amused Hilbert even more.

"If you're so mad, Llama boy, then why don't you just battle me next time?"

"Ooh, speaking of battles, let's finish up ours! Alright, Llama?" Brendan asked.

"Gladly." Ilima said, still tearing up the atmosphere around him with his rage.

He then calmed down for a moment and stood still, pacing his breathing.

Smeargle seemed to snap out of its confusion to do the same.

They seemed almost in sync.

…

"Now Smeargle, Z-move!" Ilima ordered.

"Smeargle!" Smeargle replied in agreement.

Ilima put both of his hands at the corner of his hip. He then slowly raised his left arm diagonally until his hands were as far apart as they could be. He then snapped his left arm to his forehead and his right arm on top of his waist, forming a Z with his arms.

Then, he cried out.

"Smeargle, Breakneck Blitz!"

A powerful aura surrounded Smeargle. It readied itself before pushing of the ground with enough force to crack it. It flew through the air a breakneck speed, smashing into its target with enough force to almost break its ribs. That's because Smeargle had missed Dewpider completely and rammed right into Hilbert's stomach.

Hilbert was knocked back towards Ash and Luna, who were extremely surprised at what had just transpired.

"Woah! Smeargle was still under the effects of Swagger, so it missed Dewpider and hit Hilbert!" Ash exclaimed.

"I'm… not entirely sure that that was a miss." Luna pointed out before tending to Hilbert, who was retching and muttering curse words under the breath that he couldn't take.

"You okay, Hilbert?" Luna asked.

"Son… of… a …fricken… fracken… frick… frack…" Hilbert managed between gasps for air.

"Is he still breathing?" Brendan asked.

"I think so." Luna answered.

"Then he's fine. We've got an opening!"

Sure enough, Smeargle had landed, dazed and unable to walk straight.

"Now it's our turn!" Brendan said excitedly.

Brendan, analyzing the movements made by Ilima, made the Z formation with his arms.

"But… Z-Swagger isn't an attacking move!" Ilima pointed out. "It's not supposed to do much of anything!"

"You'd be right, if Swagger was the only Normal-Type move that Dewpider learned!" Brendan corrected.

 _That Hilbert…_ Brendan thought to himself. _He really thought of everything. Not only did he come up with a strategy for us to win with Swagger, he also found a way for us to use a fricken Z-Move!_

"Dewpider, Z-Round!" Brendan called.

Since Round was a Normal-Type move, the Z-Move version simply changed to the same attack done by Ilima earlier.

"Go Brendan!" Ash cheered.

"Go Dewy!" Luna cheered as she bandaged Hilbert's massive bruise.

"Kill… that… fricken… sociopath… B-man. Also, WHY THE HELL ARE YOU BANDAGING A BRUISE?!" Hilbert yelled at Luna through his injuries.

"Now…"

"Dewww…"

"BREAKNECK BLITZ!"

Dewpider lowered itself and pushed off the ground, tearing a chunk of it off. It then spun around and rammed its rear end directly into Smeargle. The impact was so strong that it not only sent the opposing Pokémon flying, but it also spilled most of the water that remained in Dewpider's bubble.

"Smeargle, NO!" Ilima cried as his Pokémon was launched into the air and over his head, landing behind him, fainted.

…

"WE DID IT DEWY!"

Next time: THE COLLECTOR'S APOLOGY


	17. The Collector's Apology

ember us?"

Lucas stared for a moment, wracking his brain for any hula dancers he might have seen in a past life.

"Uhh… no, sorry. Should I know you guys?" He asked.

"Oh… that's alright I guess…" the dancer and the rest of the little parade all looked instantly more depressed.

Lucas kept grasping into the far reaches of his memory for any sign of these people, but nothing was found.

"We're the Alolan Welcome Party!" The woman stated.

"..."

"We greet people who are new to Alola with a song and dance?"

"..."

"People like you."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"You put our co workers in Pokeballs and walked off without a word."

"...coworkers?"

"...Pokémon."

The Oricoro popped out and rested on the dancer's head.

"Ohhhhhhhh…

...Yeah, I don't remember you."

"…"

"I mean… only one of you ever talks at a time, so…"

…

The Hula dancer explained to them as they walked through the city.

"We just wanted to thank you!" She explained, her Oricoro chirped as well. "And apologize..."

"Hm? What for?" Lucas asked, still unable to remember ever meeting these people before.

The woman took the Oricoro off her head and held it in her arms.

"When you first arrived here on the island, you kind of… caught all of these Pokemon." She said, cradling the Oricoro whilst gesturing to the rest of the group's Pokemon.

After a moment's contemplation, Lucas finally understood.

But only after checking his Pokedex to make sure it was him who caught them.

"Oh… Sorry… about that… I guess. I was kind of in one of my… modes." He apologized, awkwardly.

"Oh, no! No need for you to apologize! It actually helped us!" The woman dismissed his apology.

"You see, we all wanted to be able to take these Pokémon with us wherever, they're like family! It's just that… well… we don't really have the money for Pokeballs." She explained.

"Wait, what?!" Lucas asked, shocked. "Pokeballs are dirt cheap!"

"That's only if you're taking the island trails. They give trainers taking the challenge a special discount on things like Pokeballs, which are essential for their success. The price of Pokeballs for everyone else is… rather high. Which is why we're actually quite thankful to for practically handing them to us! ...even if you could've been the least bit nicer about it..." The dancer explained, cradling the

"I…" Lucas's dry wit and apathy had disappeared.

 _Pokeballs are practically pocket change in other regions. But here they're so expensive that some citizens have trouble buying them._

He stared around the area with this new knowledge. Like a pair of shades being taken off, the world seemed to have more details than before. The Alolan Welcome Party wore seemingly self-sewn costumes that had stitches and other errors on them. Definitely not anything officially made.

Then he looked around at the other citizens. They seemed happy, but they definitely weren't living very prestigiously.

Then, Lucas felt something he rarely ever felt.

He was now feeling sorry for these people.

... _Hm… That's weird._

Lucas thought as he looked down at Chimchar, who was playing and laughing with the Pokemon through the cage.

 _First this little brat, now these people._

But he wasn't done questioning yet.

"I thought Alola was supposed to be a happy, friendly place. What happened?" He asked.

"You see, Alola… hasn't been the kind, friendly place it used to be." She said, her tone slightly less chipper. "It's… changing."

"How so?" Lucas asked, more intrigued.

The woman, slightly taken aback, simply sighed and looked down at her feet.

"Um, hello?" Lucas asked again.

The slightly shorter girl with the Pikipek who was part of the group chimed in.

"How's about we walk over here?" She said, dragging Lucas and Chimchar off to the side. Lucas begrudgingly followed.

"Tasha here doesn't like talking about that kinda stuff." She whispered, leaning in so the woman couldn't hear.

Lucas leaned in as well. "Why's that? What's wrong with answering a stupid question?" He asked.

The shorter girl and her Pikipek shushed and scowled at Lucas at the same time.

The girl then sighed. "You're not very emotional, are you?" She asked.

"Am I supposed to take that as a bad thing?" Lucas asked in return.

Following that statement, the girl and her Pikipek slowly lowered their eyes to the Chimchar nibbling its nails in a burnt cage.

"What?" Lucas questioned their behavior.

"Oh, nothing!" The girl reassured, her and her Pikipek sighed in unison.

The girl explained the situation to Lucas.

Apparently, Alola's economy had been slowly getting worse and worse each year.

"Every year, less and less funding go into the… uh… you know, that place where people put money to help the citizens and stuff…"

"You mean the Welfare of Citizens part of your regional budget?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah sure, that." The Pikipek girl continued. "Basically, the money that would normally go into that was put into paying for those new fancy-pants research facilities."

"Research facilities?"

"Yeah, 'parrantly some folks came to the Alola region a while ago to do some research on the Pokemon here and ever since they've been practically running the place. I think they were called the Bather Foundation or somethin like that." She answered.

"The Aether Foundation." Lucas pondered this.

 _I've heard of that organization, but what are they doing in Alola? I thought they only dealt with extremely supernatural occurrences. I doubt that the regional form difference in Pokemon necessitates that large of a research grant._

Lucas was getting more and more uneasy the more he thought about it. So far, all of what he'd seen in Alola had been nothing upbeat and welcoming. While he wasn't extremely fond of the sickeningly sweet attitudes of the people, he wouldn't have assumed any dark changes underneath the surface.

Then he remembered what Hilbert had said a few nights ago.

" _You see, Alola's interesting because it's a fairly new region without a certified League. This means that they don't necessarily have to follow what the other regions do, at least not yet."_

Lucas started to piece things together.

 _A League is essentially an established government, nowadays. If Alola doesn't have anything to that effect, it would make sense that they wouldn't be getting much funding. So, in a time where they had little to no funding from other regions, a massive, multi-billion dollar corporation comes in so they can stay afloat while still keeping their individuality. It would make perfect sense, people come to Alola to escape a lot of the hardships in their normal life even for a bit. That must be what this "Welcome Party" is here for. Of course they would want to keep it that way._

 _But still, what does the Aether Foundation want in Alola? Unless… something else is going on around here..._

"You ok?" The Pikipek girl questioned, bringing Lucas back into reality. "You've been standin' there looking at the ground for like, five minutes."

Chimchar blew a puff of smoke in his direction.

"Oh, right. Sorry about that." Lucas apologized as he continued walking.

 _I'm in no position to start investigating something like that, at least not yet. I should first deal with the issues that are most prominent right now._

Lucas looked back over at this "Tasha" girl. She knelt over to a few crying children sitting down with their Pokemon, comforting them.

 _I wonder…_

The Pikapec girl noticed Lucas staring at the girl and snickered.

"So you do have a soul, after all!" She smiled.

"What are you talking about?" Lucas asked, annoyed.

"Oh, nothing!" The girl winked in his direction.

Lucas was hopelessly clueless and simply asked the question he was about to ask much earlier.

"So… what's so unnerving for her that makes talking about it impossible?" He watched as Tasha and her Oricoro cheered the street children up.

"Oh, that…" She realized, her tone going from cheery to uneasy almost as dramatically as Tasha's did. The Pikipek on her head chirped in confusion.

"You don't know this, Pecky, but… Tasha isn't really the nicest friends with the Aether Foundation, or with the systems in the other regions." She explained.

 _Finally, we're getting somewhere._

"I'll just set this nice and clear." The girl said before leaning in to whisper the details to Lucas.

Lucas knelt down so he could hear as she spoke softly.

"Tasha's mom and pops were just as into this whole Welcome Party business as she was. They were handling the business before she took it up a couple of months ago. I guess making people happy runs in the family." She said, making a quick glance over to Tasha who was saying goodbye to the children she had helped. "You see, Tasha's parents weren't the exactly the fondest of how the Aether Foundation was driving away people from other regions. Somethin' about the weird experiments freakin people out. So they decided to go to another region to bring the message over there. And then…" She stopped.

"What happened to them?" Lucas asked.

"Well, the ride to the region was fine, but the moment they took out their Pokemon, they were asked if they had some sort of card. I don't know for sure, Tasha was pretty light on the details when she told me. Last we heard about them, they had been arrested and forced to stay within that region."

This startled Lucas to his core.

"What? Wait, why? Why would they do something like that?" He asked.

"Not sure. All of the info we could get was from Hala, and he wasn't told much either."

"But… where? What region?" He asked, looking for any more information.

"I'm pretty sure it was a place called Sinnoh." She answered.

Lucas shot up as his brain went to work again. But it didn't take long for him to remember the other thing Hilbert had told him and Brendan.

 _The P.R act. Without a licence or any official purpose for holding Pokemon, you're basically a criminal in the League's eyes. And Alola doesn't even give people the option to give out licenses yet, as far as I can tell._

"Yeah, I really cared about the mister and misses. They helped me and everyone else here out a lot. I really wish I could repay them for all they did, but… we're only just a motley crew of performers and their Pokemon." She said, petting her Pikipek.

Lucas stared again at Tasha.

Underneath her cheery exterior, she must've been terribly miserable. Lucas wasn't very responsive to other people's emotions, normally. He always saw that strength and how hard you work to be the defining factors of a person. He had always seen the world as fair and just, a place where you could be in any place you wanted, as long as you worked for it.

But this trip had shown him otherwise. In this world, people were treated unfairly, and unlucky scenarios made it impossible for them to thrive, no matter how hard they worked.

He had always wondered how he had never heard of a person as good at Pokemon battles as Hilbert or Brendan, why those two never seemed to get the recognition they deserved, relegated to run-the-mill trainers who needed to scrape pocket change to get their meals now. On top of that, now they were without their strongest Pokemon, which were in many cases the only proof of that hard work they had.

 _How do those two cope with that so casually?_ Lucas thought to himself, as he now gained an even greater level of respect for the both of them.

And here, was another example. A girl, separated from her family due to circumstances beyond their control, just so they could make a decent enough living for their family.

And even this Chimchar in the cage he was holding. It was experimented on from birth, molded forcefully into something that someone else wanted it to be.

 _And here I was, trying to make it my own._

Then, Lucas realized something else.

Was this how Hilbert felt? Had Hilbert come to the same realizations as he did? Could that explain his dismissive attitude? Was he trying to challenge this unfair world?

What of himself? Could he do anything to challenge it?

Maybe he…

…

He felt a small tap on the shoulder. As well as a burning sensation on his hand.

Lucas accidently dropped the cage on his foot.

He yelped in short term agony as he sat on the ground to caress his now injured toe.

"Seriously, what kind of junk do you think about that gets you all zoned out like that?" The Pikipek girl asked.

Lucas looked up from his foot and realized that he'd been staring at Tasha for much longer than was socially acceptable. Of course, he didn't realize how weird it was, but the people around him certainly did.

He chuckled

 _Sorry everyone. Kukui, Hilbert, Jessily, you school brats, Chimchar, even you Trash. And… you too, little bro. I've been such a self-centered, close-minded jerk for all this time._

He slowly got up as the pain in his foot faded.

 _I can't get too overworked. I can only manage one thing at a time._

He adjusted his hat and silently made his resolution.

 _But from now on, this is where I promise to start making an effort for all of you who've helped me. Once I get my Pokemon back, I'm going to use my power to repay all of you. And finally complete my quest._

He smiled over to Tasha, who hadn't noticed him staring. She smiled back.

 _And I'll start with her…_

"Welllll, lookie here! Mister soulless is finally showing his true colours, if you know what I mean!" The Pikipek said to her Pikipec, teasing Lucas.

"I seriously have no idea what you're talking about." Lucas said as he picked up Chimchar's cage. "And you know damn well that that bird doesn't either!"

"Okay, okay. Cool your jets there Romeo." She continued mocking as she elbowed him on the shoulder, which she had to stretch upwards to manage. "Just letting you know, just because you helped us and have all that cash in your head, doesn't mean you can just sweep her off her feet. She's waayyy out of your league!"

"Out of what league? Seriously! I have no idea what the heck you're talking about! And why does this whole scenario sound so familiar?"

"Um… do you two hear that?" Tasha asked as she walked over.

Now that she pointed it out, the faintest sound of a voice could be heard in the distance.

"It's weird." Lucas exclaimed, trying to pinpoint the noise. Their Pokemon could all hear it too.

"It sounds like… laziness." Tasha described.

"And… angst." The Pikipek girl added.

"And… overly dramatic sarcasm- OH DEAR ARCEUS!"

On cue, Hilbert came dashing into the conversation. Well... less dashing, more… very sloppy-out-of-breath-jogging-while knocking-into-other-people-like-a-drunk-person.

"It's because of this stupid bruise that HAS BEEN BANDAGED FOR SOME REASON!"

No, it's not.

"Shut up! You try running after getting HIT IN THE STOMACH WITH A Z-MOVE!"

"I'm fairly certain I apologized." Ilima stated.

"YOU STAY OUTTA THIS, YOU FREAKING PSYCHOPATH!"

You are just rocking the all-caps today, aren't you?

"I'm ignoring you. HEY, WOODPECKER GIRL!" Hilbert screamed as he stomped over to the short girl."

"What in the Distortion World do you think you're doing RUINING MY SHIP?!"

"Your ship?" She asked. "Who even are you?"

"Me? I, am the great prophet of Trash-Bask-"

Brendan knocked Hilbert over the head, causing him to shut up.

"Ok, seriously. Even I'm starting to get tired of this guy's over-enthusiasm about this stuff." Brendan sighed as he dragged Hilbert by the collar. His Dewpider rested quietly on his head, ignoring the violent shaking Hilbert was causing. Its water bubble seemed to rise and fall as it snored.

"Hey guys!" Ash called out as he and Luna closely followed.

"Nice to meet you again!" Luna chirped.

Lucas was surprised. He hadn't realized how much time had passed since he dashed into the woods. It was practically evening with the sun about to set over the horizon.

"What happened? What are you guys doing here?" Lucas asked.

"Looking for you, knucklehead!" Brendan explained cheerfully as he grabbed Lucas in a headlock.

"Guess what? Even though you were soooo worried, me and this little guy won our battle!" He cheered, pointing at Dewpider with one hand and keeping Lucas headlocked in the other.

"It's 'this little guy and I,' you moron. And of that's the case, then why is that kid still following you?" Lucas asked, struggling to get Brendan's arm off of him.

"Mostly for entertainment purposes." Ilima explained for him. "I have no reason to suspect the two of you anymore, and the true culprit has been punished… enough, I suppose."

"The heck do you mean by 'enough'?" Hilbert asked, still on the ground. "You are messed up, kid."

Ilima chuckled.

Hilbert then slowly got up and walked over to Tasha and the Pikipek girl.

He took off his cap and dramatically bowed for them.

"Allow me to personally apologize for my colleague's erroneous behavior."

"ERRONEOUS?!"

"If any of his mannerisms made you feel violated or harassed in any way, please do not take it personally. He was just in a state of confusion without his true love."

"Okay, I AM NOT LETTING THAT GUY SPEAK FOR ME!" Lucas screamed as Brendan obliviously kept him locked in.

"To late! Should've stopped me when you had the chance!" Hilbert teased back.

The Pikipek girl scoffed. "Hah! Please. I know two lovers when I see them! And, to be honest, you're being more creepy than that guy ever was." Her Pikipek spit a small seed at Hilbert.

"Oh, I am gonna have a good time taking you down, you unnamed extra!" Hilbert chuckled, maniacally.

"Did-did I miss something?" Tasha asked, hopelessly confused at the multiple scenarios playing out in front of her.

"Nah, that's just how they are!" Luna answered as she, Ilima and Ash walked up to her.

"It's rather entertaining to watch, isn't it?" Ilima chuckled.

"Yeah, I stopped understanding what they were talking about a looooong time ago!" Ash added.

The group all laughed as they continued walking back to the Pokemon Center.

…

Amongst the hilarity that was taking place, Ash wondered to himself.

 _This would've been even more fun if all my friends from school were here._

He was worried that he hadn't seen a trace of them since over two days ago. He felt guilty for running off. And now, even his closest partner wasn't around to comfort him.

 _I'm sorry guys. I'm sorry Pikachu._

The he remembered what Hilbert told him.

" _You can't just stop and not try become something better."_

Those words really shook him, even just as memories.

 _That's right._ He thought. _Don't worry guys! I'll save Pikachu, and then I won't run from anything again!_

He also gave himself a reminder to apologize to his friends and Professor Kukui for making them worry so much.

 _Yeah, once we all get back to the Pokemon Center I'll-_

His thoughts were interrupted by a large, noisy crowd that was surrounding the entrance to the Center.

"What's going on here?" Brendan asked, trying to make his way through the crowd.

"Some kind of festival?" Lucas asked Tasha.

"No. I'm not sure what their doing…"

Then one person screamed.

"Please make way! We need to get these injured people inside!"

Nurse Joy was pleading to get the crowd to break up as a number of medical Chansey tried to get some stretchers into the center. It was to little avail however, as the crowd was trying to get a look at the injured patients, asking a barrage of questions.

"What happened?"

"Who did this?"

"Are those... children?"

Brendan burst into the center of the crowd, his back to the stretchers, and helped Nurse Joy to get it to thin out, however slightly.

"Hey, she said break it up!" He ordered.

His loud voice was simply drowned out by the confusion. The crowd simply ignored him and was focused squarely on the injured behind his back.

 _Dammit!_ Brendan thought. _How are we supposed to get this crowd out of-_

Brendan's thoughts were interrupted by Hilbert stumbling into the center of the crowd beside him, promptly stating;

"I got this."

He pulled out his Pokeball and raised it into the air. He then cleared his throat before bellowing in one of loudest, most demanding voicing Brendan had ever heard.

"HEY! YOU CLOSE-MINDED, INCONSIDERATE, THIRD RATE EXCUSES FOR BACKGROUND NOISE! I HAVE A MASSIVE POKEMON RIGHT HERE IN THIS POKEBALL! IF YOU DON'T WANT TO GET CURBSTOMPED, BEAT IT!" His voice rang through the air.

The crowd of people finally backed up to leave room for the stretchers to come in. It was easy for them to imagine Hilbert doing something like setting a Pokemon rampaging throughout the city.

Lucas, Ilima, Luna, and Ash all ran out of the crowd towards Brendan and Hilbert.

"Nice work Hilbert." Lucas complimented.

"Tiz what I do." Hilbert responded with a bow.

"Now, let's help Nurse Joy get thes-"

Lucas stopped. His eyes widened with horror.

…

"What's up Crap-Basket?" Brendan asked, turning to look in the same direction.

…

"Yeah looks like you crapped… your… pants." Hilbert added, doing the same.

…

The three of them were absolutely frozen.

In front of them were a number of people, each on a stretcher. Their bodies all had terrible, violent wounds on them.

…

But what was even more startling to the boys was their identities.

…

Lana, Mallow, Kiawe, Frank, and Lillie were all lying there, sprawled out, their bodies bruised and battered. Their clothes were torn, and they had large burn marks on multiple parts of their bodies. Not to mention they were completely unconscious.

Behind them lay a larger figure, who had the worst of it all, with one of his arms contorting awkwardly to one side.

…

"K-Kukui…" Lucas barely managed to say, his arms and legs frozen with fear.

He had dropped Chimchar's cage right beside his foot where it was in a similar state.

The site of their physical state put the three older trainers each in a state of shock. They could barely comprehend that the children they were playing and laughing with yesterday looking so… unnervingly broken.

The whole world seemed to slow...

…

Brendan had dropped to his knees, blankly staring at the kids he had promised to help get stronger.

 _Not this… again._

…

Lucas's was simply trying to distract him from the brutal scene by swarming his head with questions that felt like they were spiralling down towards his gut.

 _Why?_

 _How?_

 _Why?_

 _What?_

 _Why?_

 _Why...why...why…_

…

Hilbert was the only one who was slightly less disheartened. His anger took up too much of his mind.

He looked at Mallow, her happy, cheerful face now replaced entirely by swollen bruises, scrapes and, burns.

He then looked back in fear, hoping in Arceus's name that…

…

"G-guys?"

…

Ash stared on with the most horror, and sadness. His friends and teacher now laid out in front of him, defeated.

 _Dammit…_ Hilbert thought as he quickly looked down at his feet.

"Who…" He gripped his hands with intensity as he asked the question Lucas could'nt seem to grasp.

"WHO THE HELL DID THIS?!"

…

To be continued...


	18. The Love of A Parent

Hey guys! Before we start, I'd like to personally apologize for the absurdly long wait. I say this because it might not be too worth it, as this chapter is mostly a breather from last chapter's heavy ending. So, just be of knowledge that this chapter will slow things down slightly before they really start to pick up again.

Once again, very sorry for the long wait and I promise to have the next chapter done in shorter time. Now that it's the holidays, doing that should be easier. I've just had a large portion of this chapter finished for over a month now and I feel really bad for taking so long posting it.

Hope you enjoy!

Sol kneeled over in fatigue as he was worn from the battle he had previously. Thankfully for him, he hadn't received any lasting damage.

 _That Professor was tougher than I thought. Even after I broke his arm, he managed to distract me long enough to escape with my hostages._

He tried communicating to his mistress, now that his arm had healed. The static was now clearing away and the screen on his arm appeared. However, instead of his mistress, a female scientist's voice came through, her face obscured by her mask.

"Ms. Lusamine is busy at the moment, preparing for the return of the scouts on the Pelago mission. Her orders are to send any info on your status through me so that I may relay it to her." The woman explained.

Sol relayed his info.

"Tell Ms. Lusamine that I've received even more test subjects, and that I'll be returning with 18-VZAL in approximately 3 days time."

"Of course." The woman stated. "Any extra details on these subjects?" She asked.

Sol observed the object that was under his foot. It had arrived alongside the professor as a sort of sentient Pokedex, analysing its surroundings and floating around. Now it was simply a red rectangle with a static-filled screen.

"Just some extra Pokemon. As well as a seemingly broken device." He reported.

"Alright then." The woman wrote a quick sketch in her notepad and signed out, turning off the screen in Sol's hand.

Just as it did however, Sol heard a beeping sound coming from the rectangle.

"R-R-REE-E-E-E-REBOOTING!"

A loud screech came from the rectangle as it sprung from under Sol's foot and started hovering around. It made a circular motion, seemingly scanning the area.

"Scanning… Scanning…" It said aloud, like a child imitating a robot.

The device seemed to deform slightly, sprouting fins from its sides as well as feet, which were oddly redundant. The static in its screen was now replaced with a cartoonish face with a massive set of eyes and a mouth.

"Scan complete." The strange device said as it stopped rotating. "I have 0.01% percent certainty of where I am. I am also at 58.2% assurance that my lack of memory is due to my blacking out moments ago. Must restate position."

It turned to Sol.

"Hello there, strange Pokemon! My name is RotoDex! The living Pokedex assigned to Ash Ketchu- AAAAAAAGGGHHHH!"

The device screeched as Sol snatched it out of the air and held it in his hand. The device attempted the very calculated strategy of wriggling out of its captor's hand. But Sol's grip on it was even more machine-like, iron tight, as if he was planning on snapping the rectangle in half in an instant.

"Oh, that's right! PROFESSOR KUKUI! WE ARE CURRENTLY UNDER ATTACK BY THIS STRANGE POKEMON! I'LL HOLD HIM OFF! GET THE CHILDREN OUT OF-" The RotoDex was silenced by Sol's crushing grip.

Sol leaned in, observing the device's very frightened expressions, before questioning its earlier description of him.

"What was that?" He asked.

"Huh?" The RotoDex exclaimed through panicked buzzes and whirrs.

"What you just called me. What was that?" Sol's naturally neutral expression was now showing signs of confusion and slight annoyance.

The RotoDex almost systematically stopped panicking and stared back at the boy.

"A Pokemon." It said. "Is that not what you are?" The face in its screen tilted slightly in confusion.

Sol's grip on the device started to tighten.

The RotoDex continued its observation cheerfully, blissfully unaware of the rage he was feeding.

"You look an awful lot like a human, but my databases register you as %72.4 percen- GGAAAGKKK!" Sol shook the device to silence it again.

"Nevermind." He said, turning away. He quickly changed the subject. "I thought I had crushed you. Why are you still moving?"

"Well that, mister, is because of this sturdy frame that was built for me from multiple reinforced plates of child-proof plastic. There is only a 0.05% chance of any surface on my petite frame being brok-"

The RotoDex was interrupted yet again by Sol, who squeezed so tightly that he cracked the screen.

"BZBZZT!" The dex exclaimed in shock.

"I believe that calculation needs updating." Sol said, coldly. He squeezed even harder as the screen cracked more and more.

"Wait-BZZT! Wh- what are you gonna do? B-BZZT!" The Pokemon scrambled through its words.

Sol simply squeezed harder. Soon, the entire body of the device was crumbling in his hands.

"B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

The Rotom hastily escaped the Pokedex frame and zipped off, still buzzing and beeping in terror. It quickly flew out of the cave.

Sol crushed the remains of the device, ignoring the Pokemon that flew out. The act of crushing the Pokedex frame gave a small dose of satisfaction as it crumbled into pieces at his feet, though not nearly enough.

"...stupid animal." He muttered, hatefully. "Calling me one of its own…" He crunched the largest remaining piece under his bare foot. "I'll… I'll…"

Sol's monologue was interrupted by the sound of something behind him getting up. It was one of the Pokemon he had captured from the trainers he had fought as hostages.

A Togedemaru was slowly rolling its round body upright, while the much larger Turtanator was trying to nudge its way forward.

The Popplio, the Steenee, and the Alolan Vulpix all remained still. All of their bodies were brutally beaten and torn.

In the back laid a Pikachu, even worse for ware. It, too, was attempting another escape.

However, each of the Pokemon that were moving stopped as they realized was Sol's attention was on.

There was another Pokemon that floated out of the darkness. It was the one that fought alongside Sol as they tore apart the young school children and their Pokemon, as well as the Professor.

It had dark skin that was covered with seemingly tribal tattoos. On the top of its head was a spiky, orange mohawk that pointed upward. On its left side, there was a massive, shield-like appendage that was also covered in tattoos, as well as being as bright yellow as the sun. The shield on its other side, however, was jet black, and instead of tribal markings, strange, almost alien looking symbols were strewn about it. The symbols seemed to pulse with every movement the Pokemon made.

Tapu Koko.

The Alolan Pokemon, horror-struck as the guardian deity of their island floated passed their injured bodies, collapsed back down.

Sol quickly regained his composure to assert his dominance. After all, the seemingly mutated form of the Guardian of Melemele was fairly intimidating.

"Good, you're awake." Sol said. "Now we can start the hunt. We need to find 18-VZAL in the span of less than 3 days, so the less time we take for respiratory regeneration, the better."

Pikachu finally made a wobbly stance.

Sol simply lifted his arm in its direction while keeping his gaze on Tapu Koko.

"However, we will have to go separately…"

His body started glowing.

"One of us will have to stay here. Since we don't have any extra means of keeping these hostages immobilized…"

The glow traveled to his arm.

"We will have to use the more direct method."

…

CHAPTER 15: THE LOVE OF A PARENT

…

A young Lucas stumbled out of his bed, careful not to wake his brother. The sounds of the night kept dragging him out of his slumber. The room the two shared was fairly small, the walls a cold, threatening steel. The only thing keeping them from feeling trapped was the knowledge that the large automatic door could indeed be opened.

Lucas moved slowly out of the bedroom, towards the sounds of keyboards being typed on rapidly and people arguing.

Lucas walked down the long, dark corridor. He had never seen this side of the lab before. There were giant tubes lined across the wall containing strange fluids. Many of the tubes were shattered, the glass that encased them scattered around the floor in the form of sharp blades.

Lucas simply walked passed, keeping his distance from the glass at his feet. He was too sleep deprived to focus on more than one thing at the moment.

The sounds were becoming more and more prevalent, as they echoed throughout the hall. There were definitely people shouting.

At the end, there was another large, metallic door keeping a barrier between the sounds and Lucas.

He wondered why he had found this place. His mind seemed… distant. His next thought was of a way to get inside and find the source of the sounds. He slowly raised his right arm to knock on the large metallic door…

"BANG! BANG! BANG!"

Lucas jumped awake at the sound of a wooden door being violently pummeled.

"Could you keep it down?! I'm trying to find the beer stash!" Hilbert's voice came from the basement.

"WASSAPANIN? WE FIGHTIN BEARS?" Brendan blurted followed by a loud thud.

Lucas sat in the bed he was borrowing, groggy. The three of them, along with Ash had decided to spend the night at Kukui's house. With all the commotion at the centre, Lucas knew it would be next to impossible to use the rooms there at the moment.

While Ash slept in the same bed he was using before last nights events, Brendan had taken a hammock hanging on the higher level which he had just promptly fallen out of.

Hilbert took Kukui's bed in the basement and was seemingly already awake, rummaging through the house.

Lucas was sleeping on a pull-out bed on the main floor, which had him closest to the door. Despite his half-awake state and him having slept in his T-shirt and jeans, he quickly got up, fixed his hair and walked to the door.

 _Who the heck would be banging on a door this late, especially with the weather right now?_

He opened the door to a torrent of rain and a woman standing drenched in it.

"WHERE IS HE?!" The woman questioned demandingly.

She had screamed so loudly that Lucas fell over in surprise.

"Mom?" Ash stumbled out of his room to the voice of the woman. "Is that you-"

Ash tripped over Lucas and fell face first into the floor.

"WHERES THE BEARS, MASTER NIGEL-WHAAPACACAPA-"

Brendan's sleep deprived hallucinations prompted him to fall down the ladder, land on the ground of the kitchen, only to roll and bonk his head directly on the counter of the kitchen. He then laid, sprawled on the ground.

…

"Can't you morons keep it down up here? Looking for the perfect beer takes concentration, you know!"

Hilbert slowly walked up the stairs with a canister in his hand and faced the door as well as the crime scene in front of him.

…

"Huh. Aren't the hallucinations supposed to kick in _after_ I start drinking?"

…

He then promptly took a sip.

…

…

After a moment of introduction (and some well needed ice), Delia Ketchum sat grasping her son tightly in her arms, sitting on the couch across from the three boys.

"So, Kukui's been badly hurt?" She asked, still firmly locking her arms around Ash's head.

"Yeah…" Lucas started to explain. "We don't know how, but the Professor and the other students in his class were badly injured." He stared down as he continued. "We don't know for sure, but it was pretty clear from their injuries that something… unnatural happened to them.

"Uh huh…" Brendan added, holding a bag of ice to his head. "We think they might've been attac-" He was interrupted by Lucas slapping his knee.

"ATTACKED!?" Delia exclaimed in shock, squeezing Ash even tighter.

"...You sure he aint… you know… suffocating like that?" Hilbert questioned before taking another sip of his drink.

"No, no, no!" Lucas retracted, trying to sound as amused as possible. "What Crap-Basket here MEANT to say was that they were just on a little field trip and got… uh… poison ivy…?"

"Poison Ivy?"

"...Yes."

…

"Your imaginationatory skills are through the friggen roof these days, Lucas." Hilbert said sarcastically.

Coming from the dude who's first thought of how to use a Magikarp was to fling it around like Yo-yo.

"Hey, that took at least 30 seconds of planning and testing!"

Only 30 seconds?

"I'm a busy guy! 30 seconds is more than enough time to spend thinking about one thing!"

You're literally just sitting on the sidelines getting wasted!

"Well, why don't you get this story moving along a little quicker here so the most interesting thing happening isn't an Arceus-damned parent-teacher interview! Chop-Chop! We've been in the exact same part of Melemele for over 12 chapters!"

"Hilbert, who the heck are you yelling at?" Lucas asked.

"Wait, what? Oh, uh… nothing. I think the… uh… beer-funnies are starting to kick in. ...Yeah." Hilbert replied.

"Are you old enough to drink that?" Delia asked.

"...

...Yes."

Hilbert took a long swig before she could reply.

…

"...He does realize that's not beer, right?" Delia asked.

"That's… not a question I'd like to answer. In any case, it's too late to stop him now." Lucas replied as Hilbert looked more and more wobbly with each sip.

"Wa-tchu ta-HIC-kiin aboouut?" Hilbert slurred.

"Nothing Hilbert, enjoy your drink." Lucas responded promptly.

"That's wat I thowt." He said, slightly more coherently but not quite coherently enough.

Delia looked down at the floor.

"...Did Kukui and those children all get badly hurt? Please, tell me the truth." She asked in earnest.

The sudden shift in mood immediately sobered up Hilbert somewhat and forced Brendan to relieve the pressure of his ice pack.

The three boys looked at each other, trying to find the best thing to say. After a moment of silence, Lucas finally spoke.

"Yes. We… don't know how yet, but… yes they… did get hurt."

Delia sighed and finally released Ash from her motherly grip.

"Ash, I'm sorry." She said.

"About… what?" Ash gasped, still taking in his newly found air.

"We're leaving Alola and taking you back to Kanto."

…

Hilbert spit out his drink.

"GAACK! This stuff actually tastes terrible!" He said before shrugging and taking another sip.

Ash's breathing stopped again just as fast as it started.

…

"WHAT?! Why?" he cried.

"You can't just do that! What about his journey?" Brendan yelled in disagreement.

"Please." Delia looked back at Brendan.

He was standing up, confident in his opposition.

"What makes you think you can make him do something he doesn't want to do?" He added.

"Yeah!" Ash agreed, standing up as well. "I've still got unfinished business here!"

His mother gripped at her skirt before putting her foot down.

"ASH KETCHUM! Sit down this instant!"

…

Both Ash and Brendan sat down in obedience.

Lucas simply stared at the clear mental gymnastics this woman was going through in order to keep her own son in check.

 _Is… that how hard it is for Jessily to deal with me?_ He thought to himself, before bringing himself back to the matter at hand.

Delia sighed, this time to calm herself down.

"This place is a lot more dangerous than I thought it would be." His mother explained. "And I get the feeling it's only going to get worse. With Kukui unable to take care of you right now, I think it's best that we go home and wait until things blow over."

"But-but I…" Ash stuttered.

"I'm really sorry sweetie, I know you really love it here. But if you got hurt just because I decided to let you stay, I… I wouldn't know what to do." She turned to meet his eyes.

Ash saw the worry in her eyes. He had almost never seen her this worried before. But he couldn't leave, not yet…

"I can't go." He said, gripping his pant legs.

"Ash please, this place is more dangerous than yo-"

Delia was cut off by Hilbert.

"Hold up, Miss… I'm sorry, what's your last name?"

"Ketchum."

Hilbert choked a bit on his drink.

"Right, yeah. That stupid… friggin name- anyways, I think you should hear little…" He groaned. "... Ketchum, out on this one."

"He's right, actually." Lucas added. "Even with the increased level of danger starting to emerge, I don't think there's much possibility that Ash can't handle himself. From what I've seen, he's pretty capable for his age as a trainer."

Ash blushed a little.

"Oh, you're just saying that to make the two of us feel better. I'm his mother, I know how… headstrong he can be." Delia shot down Lucas's attempt, as well as causing Ash's blush to recede.

"That's actually not what I was talking about." Hilbert explained. He stared intently at Ash, trying to get him to say something.

Ash simply kept staring at his untied shoes.

His mother was about to interject again, but was distracted as she noticed the fact that the two boys caps had seemed to be misplaced.

Ash then stood up.

He breathed in.

Then he spoke.

"Mom, I can't go back home yet because Pikachu's been taken."

Brendan and Lucas stared in surprise.

"After these guys and I… met, I ran into this other weird guy who asked me to hand over my Pokemon to him. I told him no, and we fought. I managed to escape with Rowlet, Litten and Rockruff, but he… but… he took Pikachu. I didn't want to tell anyone because… because..."

"Cause you didn't want people to feel sorry for you…" Brendan finished Ash's statement for him, which prompted Ash to glance at him, questioningly.

Delia kept her eyes on Ash. Her eyes started to tear up.

Ash continued.

"That's why I have to stay. I have to find Pikachu and save him. I can't leave until I've done that. So… " He turned to his mother, fighting back tears of his own. "Do you believe in me enough for me to save my friend?"

The room went silent for a moment. Hilbert stared at the ceiling, smile on his face. Brendan stared at Ash, finding a new, strange connection with him.

Lucas, however stayed silent as he watched on. The scene that was playing out before him gave the air of a feeling he'd never felt before. His dream from earlier had started to re enter his mind for some reason.

Delia simply stood up and hugged her son as they both started crying.

"I...I… I miss him, mom." Ash stuttered, trying to keep his words straight. "I miss him so much…"

Delia hushed her child. "I know you do. I'm sorry."

They stayed in their embrace for what felt like an eternity.

…

"Eternity is right. Spill it already, Miss Ketchup-"

"It's Ketchum, Hilbert." Lucas corrected. "Also, not the time."

"I am not saying that dumb name, it's stupid."

"And how is "Ketchup" better?"

Before Hilbert could completely ruin the mood-

"Before?"

-the lights in the house started to pulsate, turning bright then dark, rapidly.

"Ooohhh, here comes the hallucinationsssss…" Hilbert murmured, slumping back into the couch.

"What's happening?" Delia asked as she tightened her grip on Ash, instinctively, burying his head yet again into her chest.

"I don't know!" Lucas answered as he stood up.

"Oh, you guys can see that, too? My bad." Hilbert said as he got up as well.

"Yo, Dewy, get over here!" Brendan called as he opened his Pokeball and also got up. His Dewpider popped out and perched itself on his shoulder.

"Try slowing it down with Spider Web!" He directed.

Dewpider obeyed and proceeded to shoot webs all over the house.

"What are you doing, you Trash!?" Lucas asked, annoyed as he kept swatting spider webs out of his face.

"Slowing down that Rotom, of course!" He explained.

"Wait, what?" Lucas squinted as he tried to find the Pokemon. He could barely make out the traces of an orange light zipping around.

The lights and electronics of the house kept spastically turning on and off.

"Wait…" Ash said as he released himself from his mother's grip. "That's Roto-Dex!"

"The weird Pokemon in your Pokedex?" Hilbert asked, waving more spider webs out of his own face.

"Yeah! Rotom! Rotom it's me!" Ash called out to his companion.

In response, the Pokemon stopped for a brief moment, then zipped out of sight again.

"It's heading for the basement!" Brendan yelled.

The group all rushed down into the lower level of the house and passed the gym.

"Where is it now?" Delia asked.

They stopped and looked around.

Almost in responce, the monitor at the back of the room started flickering. The massive screen then started glowing brightly. A cartoonishly-familiar face took up the entire screen.

"R-R-R-R-REBOOT SUCCESSFUL!" The Rotom said triumphantly.

"Woah!" Brendan exclaimed, "How's it doing that? It's so weird and awesome!"

"Just when I thought these things couldn't get more annoying..." Hilbert muttered before taking another sip.

"It's projecting itself onto the screen. Clearly the monitor was built with this scenario in mind." Lucas analysed.

"Roto! You're ok!" Ash exclaimed. He ran over to greet the monitor from up close.

The face on the screen chuckled in response.

"You bet I am!"

"I don't think he did." Hilbert pointed out, as no one responded.

Delia walked over to the screen and stood next to Ash.

"Oh right! This is the little guy Kukui gave you, right?" She said.

"Dude can afford to give this kid a friggin portable Poke-Supercomputer, but can't cough up the dough to give us more than 3 stinkin Pokeballs?" Hilbert complained, as he was still ignored. He took another small sip.

"What happened? I haven't seen you in days!" Ash asked.

"Since the day we first met?" Brendan asked as he and Lucas walked over.

"ACTUALLY, THERE'S MASSIVELY IMPORTANT NEWS THAT I'M %100.001 PERCENT SURE YOU ALL WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THAT!" The monitor screeched, causing everyone to cover their ears in pain.

"Okay, okay, buddy! Just… do it in a way that doesn't make our ear drums bleed, ya hear?" Brendan said.

"Oh, ok, I'll calm down." The Rotom agreed, trying and failing to remain calm.

"So… what's this important news you wanted to tell us?" Lucas asked, removing his hands from his ears.

"It's a bit of a long story, so be prepared."

"Oh boy." Hilbert groaned. "In that case, I'm getting another drink."

"Don't do that, please." Delia ordered, politely.

Hilbert threw his hands up in defeat, yet kept walking to the fridge.

The Rotom continued.

"You see, approximately 8 hours after the children had left, Nurse Joy started to get worried. So Kukui decided to go looking for them. I tagged along to help. When we got there, we were greeted by two extremely powerful Pokemon."

"Pokemon?" Asked Lucas.

"Without trainers?" Brendan asked.

"Yes-sisy. They had already injured the students and their Pokemon, so me and Mr. Kukui tried to fight them off. But… we failed. All we managed was getting the children to safety. I didn't even get away until just now." The Pokemon stopped for a moment to ponder, losing its robotic speech pattern for a moment before continuing.

"The student's Pokemon were there, as well as Pikachu, which we were surprised by."

"Wait, REALLY?!" Ash practically screamed in surprise.

"Honey, please." Delia put up her hand to calm her son down. "Are you sure?"

"I'm a Pokedex, ma'am." The screen replied, snarkily. "This is kinda my job."

"But that means…"

"The same thing that attacked the students was the thing that took Pikachu!" Brendan finished Ash's response.

"Yes yes, but afterwards…" The Pokemon continued. "We were caught up in a fight between this strange human-like Pokemon as well as…" The Pokemon imitated a drumroll exclusively with beeping noises. "Tapu Koko!"

The four of them all gasped in shock. Hilbert promptly returned with a fresh can of whatever he was drinking. He sarcastically acted shocked as well.

"How… just... how?!" Brendan managed to spout. "I saw it's arm on the floor of the shrine myself!"

"Wait, WHAT?!" Delia shouted in surprise.

"Nothing!" Ash, Lucas, and Brendan reassured simultaneously.

Lucas turned back to the monitor. "Is some sick version of one of those Pokemon's pranks?" He asked.

The face on the screen shifted from side to side, imitating a shaking of the head. "I don't know why, but Tapu Koko seemed like a completely different Pokemon. Doing something like this is far beyond some prank. It seemed like it was being controlled. After that battle, Kukui sustained some really bad injuries, but he managed to carry the kids out of the cave."

"And to the center, thankfully." Lucas added.

"Phew, that's a relief." The monitor sighed.

With this new info, everyone on the room (excluding Hilbert), contemplated, trying to process the information in their own ways.

…

"Welp, if everyone else is done shoutin' random exposition, Imma keep drinking this terrible excuse for beer. Seriously, you should tell Kukui to get some better stuff."

Delia looked away in disgust.

"Really, Hilbert? Now?" Lucas looked up briefly to scold him. "For a guy who's trying, and in my personal opinion, failing to train this kid, you're not exactly winning any favours from his mom."

"Oh, please. I'm gonna teach him better life lessons than any school you could think of. And, side note, plenty of good teachers still drink, just ask Kukui himself!" Hilbert responded while raising his can.

"Ahem, Mister Hilbert, is it?" The Roto-monitor asked.

"Watch-u want, you giant cheese-cake?" Hilbert drunkenly replied.

"Well, it's just that… that isn't beer. Kukui refrains from keeping any alcohol in the house as it is a risk for the children."

"Well, isn't that swell of 'im!" Brendan grinned.

"He really is quite considerate!" Delia chirped in agreement.

"Yeah, he's the best, isn't he?" Ash added.

"... freaking normies." Hilbert snarked. "...wait a minute, if there's no beer here, than what the heck am I drinking?!"

Seriously? You're gonna ruin my 12+ rating with references to alcohol and then bother with "heck"?

"Okay, firstly, that rating was stupid and unnecessary, and secondly, I'm one of the one's living in this crap-pile of a story, I think I deserve a little artistic leniency!"

Fine, looks like I'll have to bump up that rating, again.

"You wouldn't have to if you weren't being so inconsistent, you prick!"

"Who the heck are you talking to?" Lucas asked Hilbert, who was pointing wildly at the ceiling. "Nevermind, it's probably just the… wait, what is he drinking that's giving him hallucinations if that's not beer?"

"It's motor oil!" Roto-monitor replied.

"Wait, what?" Hilbert spit out the sip he was taking into Lucas's face. "Worth it."

"Yeah, I can tell that much from the giant label that says "MOTOR OIL" on it in neon letters, that doesn't explain the sickness and weird things he does like talking to some imaginary person on random occasions."

"The motor oil has special properties, as they are what's used to fuel me! It's not really made for human consumption."

"...Still worth it."

"The sickness and slight head trauma are expected side effects, but I can't seem to explain the hallucinations. That might just be his own problem…"

"Hey!"

"...I don't know, how many do you think he had?"

The four others in the room looked over at Hilbert.

He stared at his fingers for a solid 30 seconds before answering.

"Maybe around eleven-teen-ish."

The four along with Roto stared back with exacerbated faces.

"But… we just saw you get two…" Ash started to process his argument.

"Heh, Ketchum…" Hilbert smirked. "You gotta be sneaky and unexpected in order to get around life's biggest problems. Remember that, k? Now, why is the room melting into jelleeeeeeeeeeee…"

Hilbert passed out on the ground.

…

"He's really not like this all the time, right Brendan? Lucas?" Ash asked, trying to reassure his mother.

The two stared at each other, then gave a simultaneous "ehh…" in response.

TO BE CONTINUED…

…

"Seriously!? Two whole months, AND THAT'S WHAT WE GET FOR AN ENDING?!"

Oh, shut up. Like you care. Now go back to being passed out.


	19. A Small Chat

The night was cold and loud as the rain kept pouring, relentlessly. The Pokemon surrounding the Kahuna's house had taken what shelter they could find and were peacefully in slumber despite the heavy downpour.

Luna was lying down, awake, on her borrowed hammock inside, having much more trouble. The rain wasn't the thing keeping her awake, it was the voice she kept hearing in her head. It kept shouting a name to her, something akin to "Vizal." Her vision started blurring as she drifted off to sleep.

Was this another vision?

 _No,_ Luna thought. This was a memory.

She was facing a sheet of glass that blurred her vision slightly, however she seemed to be able to "see" the room clearly. What she saw in front of her was a giant test tube filled with light green liquid. Within the strange mixture, there was a chord coming from the top that was attached to what seemed like a child. A boy, with nothing but a head of jet-black hair covering his pale-white body.

The boy was looking right back at her, his tiny hands pressed against the glass. Luna was unaware, but her hands were pressed to the glass in front of her as well. The boy's mouth moved, indicating that he was trying to tell her something. Though she could not hear him, Luna recognized the name he was calling out to her.

"VIZAL"

…

Luna suddenly woke up. She was about to sit upright when she noticed a Cutiefly resting on her chest. It seemed to have needed shelter from the rain and had picked her room. Luna gently cupped the Pokemon in her hands as she sat and carefully got out of the hammock. The Pokemon felt so fragile, yet it slept so soundly. Luna couldn't help but feel comforted and forget almost everything about her strange dream. She smiled, took her pillow off the hammock and placed the Cutiefly on top. She then placed it on the table next to her and went back to lie down.

…

CHAPTER 16: SMALL CHAT

…

"So we're in agreement then?"

"You bet!" Brendan replied.

"Yeah! … what were we talking about again?" Hilbert asked.

"Oh for the love of-" Lucas pinched his brow in frustration. "You seriously couldn't have just NOT drunk half of those cans?"

"No, whad'yu take me for? Some kind of wimp?" Hilbert answered, about to open another can.

Lucas swiped the can from his hands. "No. Bad Hilbert. If you really want to kill yourself in the most convoluted way possible, you can go jump off Lumiose Tower."

Hilbert scratched his chin in thought.

"...I swear if you take that literally, I'm making sure you never see another can of beer again!" Lucas denied any wacky ideas Hilbert was having.

"HAH!" He laughed. "Jokes on you, I'm too young to drink beer!"

"...wait… but you drank… but this isn't… but you thought it… but…but...but... uuuuHHUUHUHUUHHGGUUGUHUGAAAAAaaaa… forget it."

"What're you boys scheming now?" Ash's mother asked with skepticism. Ash was currently upstairs playing with all of the Pokemon.

"Aww, come on, Ms. Ketchup." Hilbert responded. "There somethin you've got against us?"

"Well, even though you've caused quite a stir around town, I don't think it's really my place to judge after only just meeting you. I actually don't really have a problem with you three for the most part. At least Lucas has some semblance of good behavior and Brendan is kindhearted." She pointed towards Hilbert and faced him directly. "My issues are mostly stemming from you."

"Of course they do.." Hilbert muttered in response, leaning back slightly from the index finger of the woman.

"Well, the only thing she's seen you do is drink motor oil thinking it was beer then generally acting like an ass towards literally everyone." Brendan pointed out.

"But that not my problem, is it?"

"I think it's fair to say that it is, 100%, without a doubt, definitely your problem, Hilbert." Lucas stated. He then pushed Hilbert aside to address Delia Ketchum, directly.

"Right now, we're planning a strategy as to retrieving the missing Pokemon and driving off the strange beings that captured them and injured the kids."

"Wait, WHAT?" Delia exclaimed, clearly taken aback by this. "Why?"

"We have our reasons. And, could you please keep this from Ash? We wouldn't want him to involved with this, and I'm thinking you wouldn't either." Lucas answered.

"Yo, genius. You might've wanted to open with that. It's not like the kid is upstairs with no walls between us." Hilbert pointed out, but was promptly ignored.

Lucas continued.

"We all feel like we owe this island a great deal for taking us in, and it pains us to see it in such disarray. While we didn't make the greatest first impression, the people here have accepted us with open arms, for the most part. So we feel it's only natural to try and quell what ails them at this time. It's only natural as our duty as people."

Delia stared at the three for a moment. The three boys stood there, confident and prepared to risk whatever it took to help this island that they had only just arrived on.

…

"You're only doing this so you can get out of paying the damages you caused, aren't you?" Delia promptly asked, rhetorically.

The three boys were blown away by the shocking response.

"Wh- how do you know?" Brendan asked.

"Yeah! That was the smoothest mini-speech I've ever improvised!" Lucas added.

"Kukui told me on a phone call two days ago." The mother explained. "And it being improvised is very telling, honestly."

Hilbert and Brendan shrugged in defeat as Lucas stared at the floor, mortified.

Delia sighed. "Why are you boys trying to handle this all by yourselves? You've got enough to worry about on your own. Just let someone like the police or the Kahuna handle this."

Brendan quickly retorted. "The police can't right now! They're too busy trying to clean up our mess. Kahuna Hala has been sick for days now and can't help out. And by the time either of them are available, the bad guys who did this'll be gone, or worse, hurting someone else!"

Delia, Hilbert and Lucas looked over at Brendan in surprise at how quick his response was, almost as if he was prepared for it.

"Crap-Basket here wasn't completely talking out of his ass, we really do care about those kids who got hurt and their Pokemon, so we've gotta try and find out how to beat these guys and at least help take them down!" He added.

"I mean, I only care about one of them, but his point still stands." Hilbert added.

Delia looked on at the now determined faces in front of her.

…

She sighed. "Well, I get the feeling I won't be able to stop you three, but just try not to add to the trouble, ok?"

Brendan and Lucas nodded while Hilbert groaned in annoyance.

Delia chuckled and walked to the kitchen as the three then moved to the dining table to continue their plan.

…

Lucas stared at the table while scribbling randomly on a notebook, his brain working at full speed.

"Uhh… what's he doing?" Brendan asked Hilbert.

"Well that, my dear Brendan, I believe is an act known as "thinking" by the locals." Hilbert teased.

"I know what thinking is, Hilbert. I do it all the time…"

"Sure you do."

"..what I meant was, why is he writing random junk?" Brendan restated, unamused.

"Oh, that? I think that's just the way he does his brainstorming." Hilbert answered.

"Wait, so there's like a storm in his HEAD?" Brendan exclaimed in horror.

"I've got a plan." Lucas announced, promptly interrupting the conversation.

"Well, that was quick." Hilbert observed.

"Great!" Brendan slapped Lucas on the back, causing the trainer to reel.

"You gonna tell us, or what?" Brendan asked as Lucas recomposed himself.

He cracked his fingers and knuckles and then, pen in hand, started writing on a new page in his notebook.

As he explained the strategy, their Pokemon played on the higher floor which overlooked the rest of the main house, Ash having left to do chores. Dewpider was nudging Chimchar's cage around while said Chimchar teased Magikarp with its embers.

Magikarp just laid on its side, unmoving.

Staring at a bucket full of rocks.

Plotting.

It was hatching a scheme of its own.

After many minutes of waiting, Magikarp suddenly pounced off the ground. It latched onto the bucket with its tassels, lifting it slightly. It then fell off the railing of the higher floor down to floor below. Magikarp carefully aimed so that the landing of the rocks would be square onto the seats of the table the three trainers were sitting at.

Now was the time. The time for revenge.

Closer.

Closer.

CLOSER.

The bucket smashed right next to the table with Magikarp following suit, right where Hilbert's head had just been. This would've promptly killed Hilbert, had he not quickly moved to ask Lucas to add a megaphone to the plan of attack.

Magikarp's dreams were now crushed. The Pokemon wallowed in defeat right next to the bucket of rocks that was now spilling across the floor.

It laid there.

Wallowing.

…

"What the heck was that, You Stupid Fish? How do you fall off a floor without legs and a railing protecting you?" Hilbert asked as he picked up the fish by the tail.

"Maybe he was trying to get into the fish tank." Brendan suggested.

"Huh. Is that right, You Stupid Fish?" Hilbert questioned.

Magikarp didn't respond.

"Well why didn't you just say so? In ya go!" He tossed the into the tank and then sat back down. Magikarp simply sank to the bottom.

"Why don't you just call it Magikarp?" Brendan asked.

"Cause it's got a name."

"Really? What is it?"

"I just said it."

"What?"

"It's You Stupid Fish. First name You, second name Stupid, last name Fish. I came up with it to give the dumb fin monster encouragement." Hilbert answered.

"Really?" Brendan asked in disbelief.

"Yep."

"Ya know Hilbert, it's honestly a bit of a wonder that none of your Pokemon have tried to kill you yet." Lucas stated.

"Aw, shaddup. You're just as bad. Keep writing in your notebook." Hilbert retorted as You Stupid Fish looked on.

Waiting.

Watching.

…

"...so that's the plan." Lucas exhaled as he finished talking.

"Wow, that's actually pretty good, Crap-Basket!" Brendan applauded.

"Yeah, that plan was so intricately detailed and well thought out that literally only the three of us will ever know about it until we actually play it out!" Hilbert agreed.

"Thanks, but this is only really half of the plan." Lucas stated. "I could only really plan around Tapu koko's appearance since have no idea about this mysterious third Pokemon. On top of that, this plan can only work if everyone I've mentioned here is available."

He stood up. "So, because of that, today is set up. I'll go to that tech kid's house and finally get Chimchar out of that cage of his and try to find out anything on my way there, while Brendan goes out to finds the people I've listed and ask for their assistance."

"What'll I do?" Hilbert asked.

"You're going to stay here and sober up. Once you've done that, go over whatever Roto-Dex has on that mysterious Pokemon." Lucas explained.

"So… I'm house patrol now?"

"Better than having you running off doing Arceus-knows what."

"You seriously trust Brendan-Mc. Getspoisonedwhileofffishing more than me?" Hilbert said, pointing at Brendan.

"At least Trash here doesn't have motor oil-ridden hallucinations every 5 minutes!" Lucas responded.

"Hey, those hallucinations wore off!" Hilbert argued.

"Yeah? How many fingers am I holding up?" Lucas asked, holding up two fingers.

"Hah! Nice try Mr. Genius, but that giant jar of peanut butter ain't fooling no one!"

"...Yeah, you're staying. MAGIKARP!" Lucas ordered.

Suddenly, a set of tassels latched onto Hilbert, binding him and pulling him to the floor.

"What the heck! You Stupid Fish, what are you- AAGH!" Hilbert grunted as the Magikarp slowly flopped away, dragging him along.

"Magikarp will stay here and keep you under wraps. Literally. And if Ms. Ketchum would like to help, that would be perfect." Lucas said, tipping his cap to the woman.

"WHEN THE HECK DID YOU GET SO SMOOTH, YOU SONNUVA BI- Ow!" Hilbert cried out before having his head bonked on the door to the basement.

"Look on the bright side, Hilbert! At least this proves how good that training of yours was!" Brendan called out.

"You sleezy bas- OW- I'm gonna- OW!- Flip you over the- OW- And than ram your- OW!- until it feels like it's -OW- GODDAMMIT! COULD YOU PLEASE STOP FOR CHRI- AAHHAAHHOOOW!" Hilbert continually tried and failed to curse as he was dragged down, stair by stair, to the basement.

…

"...Well, that was somewhat therapeutic." Lucas said.

"Yeeeep." Brendan agreed.

"Would you two boys like some breakfast before you go?" Delia asked.

"Yes maam!"

"That would be excellent, thank you."

…

As they headed off into the midday, Lucas, Brendan, and each of their Pokemon waved a quick goodbye to Kukui's house.

"You two be careful, alright?" Ash's mother called out to them. "And could you remember to get those groceries?"

"Yes maam!" Brendan responded.

"Thank you dear!"

Lucas sighed. "Jeez, that woman doesn't know when to quit nagging us."

"I'm pretty sure that's how all moms act, Crap-Basket." Brendan pointed out.

"And how would you know?"

Brendan ignore the question and kept walking. Lucas stared at him, annoyed, before following with Chimchar's cage.

"Wait up, guys!" A young voice called out to them.

They soon saw Ash running out of the house as well.

"I'm coming with you!" He said as caught up to them.

Brendan greeted him with an encouraging fist bump. "Sure thing, little guy! But me and Boring-McCrapster are about to split up here. Why don't you help me out while he goes off and does boring stuff?"

"You bet!" Ash replied happily, mostly just glad he could come along without his mom worrying. "I mean, if that's ok with you, Lucas."

"What?" Lucas looked up from his phone, having barely even noticed Ash's presence. "Sure." he said as he looked back down.

"So me and Ash here'll go find those people on your list. Sound good?" Brendan asked Lucas.

"Yeah, sure." He answered.

"...we might run into some crazy bad guys on the way…"

"Yeah, sure."

"...we might even blow up a few buildings…"

"Yeah, sure."

"There's a Gible biting your head off."

"Yeah, sure."

"Your hand is on fire!" Ash exclaimed.

"Yeah, sure."

"No really! It is!"

"Yeah, ssssshhhhHHHIIIIIIIIIEEEEEE-"

Lucas started dashing away into the distance, trying to bat the flames off his glove that was now spreading to his scarf.

"Good Chimchar." Brendan said.

"Is he gonna be ok?" Ash asked.

"Meh."

…

After a while of running, Lucas had finally managed to stop the flames.

He then proceeded to scold Chimchar.

"What the heck was that for? Do you know how much that hurt? Or how much these clothes cost?"

Chimchar snickered at Lucas's now charred apparel. It then sat down in its cage, quiet and looking downwards.

Lucas sighed. He could tell Chimchar was tired of being stuck in the cage, his mobility limited by whoever was carrying him.

"Don't worry, we'll get you out of there soon." He said as he looked at his surroundings. They had gotten far from Ash and Brendan and were now in the middle of Iki town. Lucas regained his composure and started walking. While he didn't know the location of Sophocles's home, he did know a few people who could direct him.

He walked passed the Pokemon Center, which was less crowded than last night. It didn't seem like anything awful had happened there from the look of the building. It was how the people were acting that kept last night's events hanging in the air like a foul stench. Parents were keeping their children at a tight grip, most of the vendors around the area were now closed, and the entire town felt significantly less inviting than it had a mere few days ago.

Funnily enough, it was the loss of the island's kindred emotion that drew Lucas's attention to it in the first place.

 _This isn't the time for feeling bad about it though._ He thought.

 _We have no idea if the people who stole the Pokemon plan to stay on the island or not. For all we know, they could leave by tomorrow._

He started running faster.

 _Gotta find Ilima._

…

"Wow, is it just me, or is this place quieter than before?" Brendan asked Ash as they walked by the docks.

"Yeah…" He replied, looking at the significant lack of boats coming in. The docks were still more crowded than the town area, but there was a clear influx of people trying to leave the island. It seemed that word of the student's injuries had gotten around.

Over by the boats, the Alolan Welcome Committee was trying to convince people to stay, as many of their livelihoods depended on it.

Brendan seemed blissfully ignorant of most of the harsh air around him and promptly exclaimed, "Hey look! It's Tasha! Let's go say h- Ash?"

Ash had begun walking away from the docks, trying to ignore all of the people looking so scared. After walking for what seemed like a while, he stopped and stared at the ground.

 _It's my fault. It's all my fault._ He kept thinking to himself.

"You ok, kid?" Brendan grabbed his shoulder and beckoned him to stand.

"The heck happened? Where were you going?" Brendan asked.

"It's my fault, Brendan." Ash muttered.

"What do you mean?" Brendan questioned further, trying to be less pressuring.

"This place is supposed to be fun and safe for people, but after Kiawe, Mallow, Sophocles, Lana, Lillie, and the professor all got hurt, everyone's acting so weird." Ash continued, his tone similar to how he was speaking with his mother back at Kukui's house.

"And what does that have to do with you?"

"I met the guy that hurt them. I fought him. If I was only strong enough to stop him, maybe they wouldn't have gotte- BONK!"

Brendan bonked the top of Ash's head with his fist, completely disregarding his earlier gentle questioning.

"That's the issue? Jeez! And I thought Crap-Basket and Hilbert complained a lot!" He said, cleaning out his ear with his pinky. "Seriously kid, if you're gonna blame yourself for being so weak, then stop moping, get over it, and get stronger so that it won't happen again! You think you're the only screw up here?"

Ash simply stared at Brendan, who sighed as a result.

"Listen kid, I get where you're coming from, really. I used to be wimp too, believe or not. But I didn't let that stop me. And even now I still make plenty of mistakes. Heck, take Dewy here for example…" He grabbed his Pokemon and popped Dewpider out. "Couple'a days ago, this little guy could barely walk on his three legs. Now he can actually fight, and that's because me and him want to make up for losing those swamp Pokemon to those thieves! Ya get what I'm saying?"

Ash looked on at Brendan as he posed and practically danced with Dewpider while giving his speech. It was rather uplifting, despite the Pokemon's fumbling movements. But he was soon distracted by what Brendan said.

"Oh, that's right. I wanted to ask you about who stole the swamp Pokemon. I never did get the full story." He asked.

"Oh, uh, sure." Brendan obliged, repositioning himself and his Pokemon. "So they were stolen by these weird guys that called themselves… I dunno… I think it was Team Space Jammy, or something…"

"TEAM ROCKET?!"

"There it is! They also used this weird vacuum cleaner thing…"

"Sounds like something those guys would use…"

"Yeah and, speaking of which…" Brendan pulled out the list that Lucas had given him. "...apparently I need to find those guys for Crap-Basket's planny thing."

"Wait, why do you need THEIR help? Why do you WANT their help?" Ash asked in surprise.

"I'm not really sure, but I'm cool with it. As long as they return those swamp Pokemon." Brendan nodded to himself.

"But… but..."

"Hey, Crap-Basket might be a real piece of work, but he writes some mean scribbles. Just trust us on this one, ok?" Brendan asked for Ash's approval.

"Um… ok, sure." Ash replied hesitantly. It wasn't out of the ordinary for Team Rocket to to the odd good deed, but asking them for help didn't seem very plausible.

"Great!" Brendan exclaimed as he stuffed the list into his pocket. "Cause I need help finding them. You seem to know'em pretty well, huh Ash? Do you know where they might be?"

"I can do better than that." Ash explained as he pushed his arms outwards for space.

He took in a deep breath.

…

…

"I'M HERE WITH MY PIKACHU AND I'M COMPLETELY, 100% DISTRACTED!"

…

"Uhh…"

"Just wait for it."

After a moment of silence and stares from the people around them, suddenly, there was a loud "CRASH" on the ground. A man, a woman, a Meowth, and a Wobbuffet were now lying sprawled onto the ground.

"Woah! Did those guys just fall outta the sky?" Brendan exclaimed.

Soon after, another loud "CRASH" could be heard as a massive Bewear landed right on top of where the first group had landed.

"Woah! Did that Bewear just fall outta the sky?" Brendan exclaimed.

"Did I hear Pikachu?" Luna asked as she was 5 feet away from Ash's face, causing him to fall over.

"Sup Luna." Brendan greeted the girl. "Also, HOW THE HECK DID YOU GET HERE SO FAST?!"

"I ran, silly!" The girl explained, nonchalantly.

"Oh, that makes sense." Brendan agreed.

"No… it… doesn't…" Ash muttered as he tried to recover from the shock of the girl practically teleporting right next to him.

Luna helped the boy up as she noticed the pile of Pokemon and human bodies a mere few feet away.

"What's up with those guys?" She asked.

The pile grunted what sounded like a monologue that was muffled by the mass of the Bewear.

"Forget them, what are you doing here?" Brendan questioned, "Shouldn't you be taking care of Old Man Hala?"

"Oh, don't worry!" She reassured in her ditzy voice, "He said he just wanted some peace and quiet, so I decided to take a stroll. Then I heard someone shouting about a Pikachu and just had to rush over. I've heard they're adorable, but I've never seen one in person."

"Huh, so you came all the way here and ignored your duty of taking care of the Kahuna and drew attention to yourself because you wanted to pet a Pikachu?" Brendan asked while rubbing his chin.

"Yep!" Luna replied.

"That makes sense." He agreed.

"I'll have to disagree on that notion." Sol disagreed.

"Oh, would you care to explain yourself, stran- PPLEGH!"

Brendan's face was buried into the ground. His Dewpider fell in front of him, its water bubble bursting.

"Wha- Who are you?" Luna asked.

"Do you really need to ask that?" The boy asked as he approached Luna.

"Litten, use Fire Fang!" Ash shouted as he threw his Pokeball. His Litten appeared from the Pokeball and immediately pounced at strange boy, fangs ablaze.

Before it could make contact, however, the boy seemingly disappeared. Litten landed on the ground where the boy was.

"Where did he-" Luna asked before being answered immediately by Ash.

"That's one of his abilities, he can teleport." He explained.

"So you actually learned something from our previous encounter." The boy's voice came from above. He was now atop the check-in building.

"I should have exterminated you when I had the chance." He continued.

Brendan finally managed to pull his head out of the ground. He doubled backwards as his hat slipped off his head. He ignored it as he got up and ran towards the building Sol was standing on.

"Hey, you bastard! What the heck did you do that for?" He shouted.

'I'm not here for a small chat."

The boy ignored him and stared over at Luna, who was being sheltered by Ash.

…

"At last…"

He pointed straight at Luna.

"I've found you…

...Vizal."


End file.
